Second Chances
by LSiri
Summary: What if Pam had turned Hadley instead of Queen Sophie Anne? Sookie finds herself learning the ropes of the supernatural world at the hands of her vampire cousin while trying not to lose herself in the attentions of a certain sexy Viking sheriff... Sookie/Eric, Pam/Hadley.
1. Chapter 1

**Unexpected Visitors**

I was cleaning when I heard the knock. I was up to my elbows in dishwater, my hair a frizzy blond mess around my face. I certainly hadn't been expecting company.

It had been a long, but satisfying day. It was my day off from Merlotte's, the bar where I'm a waitress, so I'd started off the morning sunbathing. It was still early enough in the spring that I got goose pimples from the breeze, but I am an avid tanner. I don't consider myself to be vain, but I like to be tan and pretty. I'm a natural blond, with big blue eyes, so the tan works for me. And as far as I was concerned, the slight chill was well worth it. I had slathered on a shiny layer of coconut tanning oil, pulled on my favorite purple bikini from last summer, and stretched out on my old green plastic lounger. I then proceeded to fall asleep behind a pair of oversized sunglasses, the radio playing cheerful from the porch.

I woke up in time for a late lunch with Gran, then helped her fold the laundry. My waitress uniforms were neatly tucked away in my drawers, the towels were in the hall closet. We tackled the living room and downstairs bathroom next (spring cleaning!), and finished around supper time. Since Gran had a prior arrangement at Maxine Fortenberry's (they were planning a Descendants of the Glorious Dead bake sale), I offered to do the dishes.

When the knock came, I nearly dropped one of our dinner plates.

My cat Tina meowed loudly at me and I gave a rather hysterical laugh, trying to calm my thudding heart. Who could possibly be knocking this late? Gran was out for the night, and I knew for a fact that my brother Jason wouldn't be stopping by because he was out on a date with Dawn Green, one of the other waitresses from Merlotte's. Not that Dawn told me, per se. I just happened to accidentally hear her thinking about Jason taking off the new bra and panty set she'd gotten at Boscov's in Shreveport before I managed to shut her out.

I wish I could tell you that that was the first time I'd ever heard someone's thoughts, or that I was crazy, but it wasn't and I'm not. Crazy, I mean, although everybody in the little town where I'm from, Bon Temps, calls me Crazy Sookie. Nope, I'm sane. I just have the great misfortune of being a telepath. It may sound glamorous, being able to listen in on people's thoughts, but I can tell you it's just plain awful. It's like I'm constantly having two conversations, one in my head, with myself, as I sort through all the mental garbage I "hear" with my little disability, and another verbal one with all the regular folks. It's no wonder people think I'm crazy.

I can shield the thoughts somewhat, enough to wait tables and not be hospitalized, but not enough to go to college. I'm not stupid, but I always had a hard time in school, what with maintaining the two conversations and all. I love to read though, and am as self educated as I can be. When they were alive, my parents thought I'd had a learning disability, but after they died in a flash flood when I was seven, I went to live with my Gran. She believed in my telepathy, and never treated me like I was a monster because of it. Instead she taught me to be circumspect and to make the best of my simple life. I worship my Gran, and between her and the old family farmhouse, I am grateful to have a loving home.

Still, there are very few times when I can drop my shields entirely. Usually only very late at night, after I've gotten back from Merlotte's and Gran has drifted off to sleep, or on the occasional evening where she goes off to meet with one of her clubs. Tonight was one of those nights, so it was just me and Tina. My shields were completely dropped and I was enjoying the sounds of the old farmhouse: the creaky old hot water heater, the low strains of the Shreveport rock station, and the gentle hum off Tina's well-being (No, I can't hear animals, but I can sort of "sense" them.)

So I should have heard whoever it was before they knocked. Puzzled, I threw the locks and pulled open the door to my mystery guest.

My nervous hello died on my lips as I opened the back door and saw who was standing there. I barely felt Tina dart between my legs out onto the dimly lit porch and into the night. It was a crickets in the dead of night kind of moment when I realized who it was.

My long lost cousin Hadley looked like she was dressed for someone's funeral, and it only took me a few seconds of staring at her to realize it could have been her own. Although she had been pale in life, her skin was a luminescent, pearly white now. She practically glowed, and her mind was just… not there. That explained why I hadn't heard her coming up on the porch. I sent out a gentle search with my mind, pushing to make sure I hadn't missed something. Nope. All I got was cool silence.

No doubt about it. My cousin Hadley was a vampire.

"Oh Hadley," I whispered, staring into her thickly lashed brown eyes. I had always been envious of her eye lashes when we were little girls. And she was still so much the same. Petite, ethereally thin with long, shiny brown hair running in curls down her back. I couldn't tell how far down it went after it disappeared over her shoulders, but I was sure it was longer than I remembered. Her clothes looked good, too, if a little dark for my tastes. She was wearing black on black on black: a long velvet skirt with a lace hem and leather corset with a billowy shirt underneath. The boots she had on raised her a good three inches over my own five-foot-four frame. Her face was a little more mature than I recalled; she looked around about my age of 25, which meant she had been turned recently. Hadley and I were only two years apart.

The only thing that ruined the sophisticated, gothic beauty was the terrified, wounded expression on her face.

"Oh sweetie. What have you gotten yourself into?"

It wasn't the fact that Hadley was a vampire that got me. It was the circumstances under which I had last seen her. Hadley had disappeared her junior year of high school, had just plain took off from a rehab Gran had paid for. Nobody had seen her or heard from her since.

"Come in!" I said finally, ashamed that I had gotten so caught up in staring that I forgotten my manners.

She hesitated at the doorframe, finally stepping inside and walking like she was tiptoeing over shattered glass. I took her hands, which were startlingly cool, and led her over to the dining room table.

"Here, come sit down," I said. She settled into the old rickety wooden chair and ducked her head down to her chest. I felt a pang as I recognized the familiar gesture. She was trying not to cry.

It was my turn now to hesitate. "Oh Hadley, we were so worried about you, sweetie," I said gently.

"I wanted to come back for so long," she sobbed. I kneeled on the floor at her feet, gathering up her chilly hands again and rubbing them with mine. Even though I was touching her, I still couldn't hear her thoughts. Usually touch acted as a telepathic antenna.

"I just couldn't bring myself to face you all, not after running away like I did, an' owing Gran all that money. I tried so hard, but I just had to go off an' get myself lost. An' then it just felt like it was too late to come back, like you would never forgive me."

I tried to shush her, but she just shook her head, still not looking at me.

"Oh, I knew it weren't true, Sook. But I just hated myself so much." She was calming now, and when she raised her head I could see crimson rivers where her tears ran down her face. I stared in fascination. Vampires cried tears of blood? Amazing. Lord knows I'd watched enough documentaries on vampires after they came out of the coffin four years ago, but I'd somehow managed to miss the glowing skin and bloody tears. I guess some things they just don't show on TV.

"Is Gran here?" she asked, looking around longingly, her nostrils flaring as if she were trying to smell her. Huh. That was strange. But then I saw her eyes fill with memories as she glanced into the living room. Not much had changed since she'd been gone. The curtains were still the same pale green with white flowers, the fat old tube TV still sat in front of the couch. The couch still had Gran's afghan collection covering it. I wonder how she saw it all with her new eyes.

"No sweetie, she's not. She's off with one of her clubs."

Hadley laughed, and I was glad to see some happier emotion coming into her face. I strongly wished I could still read her mind, and had to shake myself at the thought. This was what I had always wanted!

"Oh, how I've missed her. How's Jason?"

"Still a hound dog," I said drily. "He's out tonight with Dawn Green. You remember her from back in high school?"

"Yeah. We were on the varsity team together at the beginning of my junior year…" she trailed off and began chewing on her bottom lip.

"I'll tell you what. I'll talk to Gran for you, okay? I'll tell her that you'd like to come over for dinner sometime this week and that you have some big news. We'll break it to her together, a little easy though, okay? You want me to invite Jason, too?" Lord only knew how he was going to take this. Hadley and him hadn't been exactly close, but then Jason wasn't really that close with anyone but Hoyt Fortenberry and Rene Lenier.

Hadley thought about it a moment then shook her head.

"No, no, I'd like it just to be us, Gran an' you an' me, when I tell her. I'll… I'll tell him after." She seemed to think of something and I saw a steely glint in her eyes.

"I have the money for the rehab," she said proudly. "I'm working at a club in Shreveport and making money, so I can pay her back."

"Sweetie, I'll tell her, but honestly I think she'll just be happy to see you. I know I sure am." I squeezed her hands.

And I meant it. Regardless if Hadley was a vampire now, she was still Hadley, albeit paler and a little longer in the tooth. This was still the girl I'd swapped Barbies with, who sneaked me moon pies from the kitchen when Gran wasn't looking, who'd helped me play pranks on my hound dog of a brother Jason. No matter what had happened in the past, she was family, she was blood, and I loved her.

"I know," she said, "but I want to. I know she'll just forgive me, like she always does, but I wanna earn it, Sook. I need to earn it."

Hadley sat tall and proper in the Gran's old kitchen chair, the blood dried to dark red streaks on her cheeks. She looked resolute. There was a new, quiet strength to her that impressed me. It had been so many years since I had seen Hadley, and I wasn't just talking about physically. Maybe becoming a vampire had actually been good for her. There would be no going back to drugs this time around; it wasn't even a possibility any more. Maybe knowing that had given her a sense of peace. I sure hoped so.

"I have to go to work now, but will you come see me tomorrow night?" she asked quietly.

I could tell she expected me to say no. Truth be told, with my little disability, I had never been real eager to leave the relative mental security of Bon Temps. New, crowded places made me nervous, and made it harder to shut out people's thoughts. But… I wanted to see if Hadley was the only vampire exception to my abilities. Wouldn't it be amazing if all of them were silent? A whole new world would be open to me.

"Fangtasia?" I asked carefully, naming the vampire bar in Shreveport some of my Merlotte's co-workers frequented.

"Yes. I work there." She hesitated again. "My… maker is a manager there. Her name is Pam."

I may not have been able to read Hadley's mind, but we had been close once, before the cruelties of high school and drugs separated us. When she said Pam, her voice was full of soft wonder. I studied her closely and thought hard, a nervous smile pulling at my lips. In high school, Hadley had always liked guys, usually big, rough neck types with calloused hands that liked to work hard and party harder, so I was a little surprised. But years of listening in on people's brains and watching their expressions had taught me a lot about such things. Good grief, this must be what regular folks had to deal with all the time. Honestly, it was a little unnerving. I felt like I'd had one of my limbs cut off. Still, I felt my excitement growing as I wondered if all vampires were dead zones for me, pardon the pun. I forced myself to focus on Hadley.

"So, this Pam, she treats you good?" I said finally. "'Cause vampire or not, I'm not above knocking together some fanged skulls." That got a laugh. Good.

"Oh no, Sookie. She's wonderful."

Yup, I decided. My cousin was involved with this woman, intimately. Did that bother me? I gave it about as much thought as I give anything else sexual, which is to acknowledge it and then shove it out of my head. It's not that I'm not interested in sex. It's just never really been a possibility. I can't even handle going on dates with men, let alone getting naked with them while listening to all the thoughts rumbling around in their brains. I'd pretty much accepted that I would die a spinster virgin in a house full of cats. Maybe Jason would have some kids so at least I'd get to be Crazy Aunt Sookie. It didn't look like Hadley was going to give me the chance now, but I immediately reprimanded myself for such thoughts.

"Ok, then. I guess I'll have to come stop by Fangtasia and meet this Pam for myself. I work lunch tomorrow, so it won't be a problem."

She had brightened up when I said yes. I mean literally. Her skin throbbed with a soft, gentle white glow that I took to mean happiness and/or excitement.

"Oh, thank you, Sookie!"

She jumped up from the chair in a movement that was too fast for my eyes to follow, picking me easily up into a hug. I was astounded by her strength. Not that I'm overweight, per se, but I'm a curvaceous size 10, and Hadley had been a size 4 the last time I'd checked. She looked even thinner now. When she set me down, I rubbed briskly at the skin where her fingers had held me.

"So I'll see you tomorrow then," she said cheerfully. "There's so much for us to talk about, and Pam will just love to meet you!"

"Sure thing, Hadley. Nine o'clock okay?"

"Perfect! I have to work, but Pam already knows I was coming to talk to you. She won't mind, and Eric…" She paused, giving me the once over, then grinned.

"Eric loves the ladies, so I'm sure he won't mind either. Why don't I just meet you outside the club at nine?"

"Sounds like a plan," I said, grinning at her. Her excitement was contagious, and I was eager in my own right. This had been a night of revelations of all sorts.

Hadley bent slightly and brushed my cheek with her cool lips, then was out the door in a flash. I looked out after her, searching for a car, but if she'd driven one, I couldn't see or hear it. I stood there for a long time, staring out into the night, trying to catch a glimpse or two of the stars through the tall willows that surrounded the house.

When I finally shut the door, I leaned against it for awhile, thoughts whirling.

"Well," I said to the empty kitchen air.

"I guess I better go figure out what to wear."

* * *

This is a story I wrote several years ago, that I've been meaning to publish on for some time now, and I'm finally getting around to it. I'm about to start work on a new TVD fanfic, so I decided it would be a good idea to post some of my old work up here to get the old juices flowing again. I'll be publishing a couple chapters a week of Second Chances until I get the whole thing published... Hopefully you all will like it! Review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**2- So Much for Secrets**

When Gran asked where I was going the next night, I didn't exactly lie, but I politely skirted the truth. I told her I was going out with an old girlfriend from high school. I had every intention of telling her about Hadley's reappearance, but truth be told, I wanted to know a little bit more about her life before I started explaining things. Hearing that I was going out had gotten Gran excited, and I squirmed when I picked up a stray thought about me meeting "some nice young man." I would probably be meeting men tonight, but I wasn't too sure how "young" they'd be. Or if they still qualified as men, even.

I'd gotten some idea of Fangtasia's dress code from Hadley last night, but no matter how much I might stick out, upscale Goth was just not for me. I finally picked out a sundress I'd had for a few years. It was white with little red flowers, sexy but not too short. It left my shoulders bare and framed my boobs nicely. I brushed my hair until it shone and left it straight down my back, applied enough make up to make my eyes pop, then headed downstairs.

I could tell by the hairy eyeball Gran was giving me that she wasn't too happy about my outfit. I gave a little twirl on my red heels, grinning at her.

"What do you think?" I asked, running my hands down the dress to smooth it out. I felt excited and super pretty. Other than church, I rarely got to dress up, and this was definitely not a church friendly outfit.

"Honey, you look beautiful," she said. "Aren't you going to be a little cold in that dress?"

"No, ma'am, I don't think so. It's pretty warm outside."

"Wouldn't you like to wear a nice white sweater over that?" she hedged. My grin got even bigger, but I shook my head.

"Don't wait up," I said, brushing her wrinkled cheek with a quick kiss.

"Ok, honey. You have a good time."

The drive to Shreveport took about thirty minutes. It should have taken forty-five, but I was so excited I didn't notice I was speeding. When I glanced down and saw my speedometer, I swallowed a nervous laugh and pulled my foot off the accelerator. Luckily for me, there were no cops out.

When I got to Fantasia, I leaned against the door of my old car and looked around the parking lot with interest. The club was in a strip mall near a Sam's Club and Toys R Us, and the parking lot was packed. A long line of people snaked out into the night, thoughts full of sex and anticipation. I shored up my mental shields and studied them, making out the odd vampire here and there. It wasn't difficult; just like Hadley, their skin positively glowed white.

I blinked, just blinked, and suddenly Hadley was standing in front of me with a wide smile on her face. I had no idea where she'd come from. Super vampire speed, I thought, heart racing. I searched her face to see if she'd startled me on purpose, but relaxed when I saw her expression. She looked positively chipper as she caught me up in a quick hug. I wondered if I would ever get used to how cool her skin was now.

"Sookie, you made it!" she said happily. Tonight she was wearing a long, crimson velvet dress with a split running almost to her hip. Her brown hair was curled in fat ringlets that framed her glowing white face, and her lips were painted scarlet red. She looked beautiful, like a Gothic _Gone with the Wind_ extra.

"Of course I did, sweetie! I told you I would."

"I know, but I was worried you were just being nice last night. I thought maybe you would change your mind. But I guess you knew that already, huh?" She looked at me pointedly and I felt myself squirm.

"No, actually. Hadley…" I said, trying to decide how to word it. "Hadley, I can't "hear" you anymore." I touched my temple with my fingertips.

Her eyes widened.

"Really?" she said, excited. "You can't hear what I'm thinking?" I shook my head.

"Nope. Not one bit. I tried a couple of times last night, but as far as I can figure it, you're on a different channel now."

"Can you hear other vampires?"

"Well, I don't know. You're the only vampire I've ever met, but I was hoping to find out tonight." She studied me, eyes growing suddenly serious.

"I wanted to talk you about this anyway, and you not being able to hear me just makes it easier," she said, surprising me.

"You did? Why?" I was having a real conversation, maybe for the first time ever. Being around vampires sure was going to keep me on my toes.

"Sookie…" She bit her lip, hesitating, and I realized I'd yet to see her fangs.

"I haven't told anyone what you can do, not even Pam," she said finally. "Vampires are not- _we're_ not like people, ok? What you can do is real special, and if they found out, I'm not sure what would happen. Pam and our master, Eric Northman, they're not bad as vampires go. Eric would probably even offer you a job. He's real practical like that."

"You've really thought about this," I said, doing some quick thinking of my own. Work for a vampire actively using my telepathy? Get paid to spy on people's brains? I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I had spent so long hiding what I could do from everybody around me, trying not to be a freak. What would it be like to actually be encouraged to use my disability, instead of being shunned for it?

"I've had reasons to," she said vaguely. "But it's up to you. I just need you to understand, if you let any vampire besides me know what you can do, there won't be any going back, not ever."

Well that was nice and ominous. I felt my heart speed up.

"It's a whole different world, Sook. Not all bad," she said hurriedly when she saw my expression. "But dark."

I was quiet for a long time, considering her warning. I was grateful and pleased that she'd kept my secret and bothered to warn me, that she'd given me the chance to make up my own mind. She hadn't said I shouldn't tell other vampires about what I could do, but that I should think about it carefully. I was at a cross roads, I realized, and found myself more than a little excited.

"I guess I should meet everybody before I make up my mind," I said finally. I was happy to see her smile return full force.

"Ok then!" She grabbed my hand. "Let's go!"

Hadley practically dragged me across the parking lot, right past the long line of people stretched out from the door. I ignored all the nasty thoughts about line jumping aimed my way, and skirted around the red velvet rope keeping the crowd back. We came to a stop at a short hallway leading into the club, where a tall, pretty female vampire was taking IDs.

"Sookie, this is Pam," Hadley said proudly, dropping my hand to go to her side.

Pam the vampire was dressed in a Gothic black lace ball gown, her pale blond hair pulled back in an elaborate knot. She had wide blue eyes and full pink lips. From the neck up, she looked like a suburban house wife. Pam, the vampire soccer mom. My face lit up with a happy grin at the thought.

"Well, hello, there Sookie," she said smoothly. "Don't you look positively delicious."

I watched in fascination as her fangs popped out and a leering expression spread over her wholesome face. I reached out with my mind, searching, but found Pam just as blank as my cousin. I guess that answered that. I saw Hadley looking at me questioningly and shook my head ever so slightly. Relief flooded her face and she stepped even closer to Pam.

"Don't you think one Stackhouse is enough?" Hadley teased her with a fake pout.

I watched Pam roll her eyes, but then saw the quick brush of her fingertips on Hadley's wrist, and felt my heart melt.

"It's not my fault she's dressed like a virgin going on a summer picnic," Pam said drily, and I was caught between laughter and a blush at the dead on virgin comment. Telepathy made dating nearly impossible. You try having dinner with a date whose thoughts sound more like he's reading a playboy than a menu.

"I wasn't really sure what to wear," I said, pulling out my ID. She waved it away, then turned her head and made a signal to someone in the club. Another vampire quickly came up to the entrance to take her place.

"Oh, you look fine," she drawled. "Come on, let's get you a drink."

Though it was crowded, we made our way easily through the club; people moved deferentially away from Pam as she stalked towards the bar. I looked around with great interest, taking special note of the red and grey, Hollywood vampire theme; the walls were covered in cinema vampires, from Gary Oldman to Bela Lugosi. The music was quick paced and electric and my blood was soon thumping to the bass.

"Longshadow, this is my cousin Sookie Stackhouse," Hadley said by way of introductions to the bartender, a tall, thin, Native American man. He gave me a lewd, fanged grin when I ordered a gin and tonic, making it with unnerving speed as I watched. I would have been more impressed if I hadn't seen Hadley do something similar earlier. I took my drink with a polite smile and said thank you.

I was taking my first careful sip when I noticed him.

"Who's that?" I asked as I studied the vampire seated throne-like on a raised platform at the back of the club. He was wearing dark wash jeans over impossibly long legs and boots; his muscular chest glowed through a black vest, long blond hair falling over broad shoulders. He looked dangerous, kingly, like the cover of a romance novel brought to life. My mouth was going dry just looking at him.

"That's Eric Northman, our master," Hadley said. I knew by the look in her eyes that she could tell what I was thinking, but then what woman in her right mind wouldn't? He was gorgeous, just plain gorgeous.

"How old is he?" I asked curiously. Hadley looked to Pam, who shrugged, before answering.

"Eric's been a vampire for about a thousand years." My breath caught at that, and I stared at him all the harder. I couldn't imagine what he'd seen over the centuries, and my mind was flooded with all the possibilities. He was a beautiful, living time capsule.

"He used to be a Viking," she added helpfully.

"Don't you want to know how old _I_ am?" Pam asked coyly, smiling a wicked, fanged smile, and I felt myself blush. Just call me transparent.

"You want to meet him?" Hadley asked.

"I guess so," I said, watching as a tall, slender Goth girl with several sets of fang marks on her neck approached him, only to be quickly dismissed. Looked like he wasn't hungry.

"Don't mind him if he's a little stuffy," Hadley warned. "You wouldn't believe how people act when they come here. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm an attraction at Disneyland."

"Eric? Stuffy?" laughed Pam. "Oh, darling, you're too much. Eric's just going to love that. Sookie, don't mind Eric if he's 'stuffy,'" she mimicked.

"Sure," I agreed readily.

"Oh, Pam, please don't tell him I said that," Hadley begged as I gathered up my purse and drink. Pam just kept laughing.

The three of us made our way over to the platform, stopping a few feet away, keeping a respectful distance. It felt strangely like I was meeting royalty.

"Master," Hadley said reverently with a slight bow of her head. Eric acknowledged her with a slight flick of his wrist, looking terribly bored. Even though she'd warned me, I felt a frown spread over my face.

"I've already eaten," he said dismissively, never looking up from his Blackberry. The nerve of the man!

"Well that's good, 'cause I'm sure not on the menu," I said in my most cheerful Southern Belle voice, before I could wonder whether or not it was a good idea to bait an ancient Viking vampire. I heard Hadley gasp and Pam snicker.

That got his attention. His eyes shot up from his text and settled on me with… Was that humor? Surely not. But there was no mistaking the lust that rose as he scanned me, head to toe. I felt suddenly, woefully naked in my sundress and wished I had brought the sweater Gran had been so insistent on. Too late now.

By the time his gaze had settled on my face again, I was grinning a nervous smile so hard my cheeks hurt. He looked from me to Hadley, then back again, before giving me a sexy smile of his own.

"Hadley. This must be your cousin that you spoke so highly of."

"Hi," I said, trying to ignore my own answering wave of lust. Fortunately I had loads of practice.

"I'm Sookie Stackhouse." My hand shot out towards him and it wavered there for several uncomfortable seconds before he caught my fingers and raised them for a kiss. His lips were smooth and cool on my knuckles; I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Please," he said, gesturing to the seat next to him. "Sit."

With his help, I stepped up onto the platform and sat carefully on the offered chair, crossing my legs ladylike so I wouldn't flash the club. I felt like a doll on display sitting so high up over the club crowd. I figured if I had to sit up here every night I might affect boredom, too. That thought warmed my smile to something a bit more genuine as I met his gaze. Still, I glanced anxiously at Hadley for reassurance, but she was lost in her own Pam-centered world.

Pam noticed my look, though.

"Hadley, isn't it just 'stuffy' in here tonight?" she said with a wink as she feigned fanning herself. Hadley made a little noise in her throat and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

I was feeling more grounded when I looked back at Eric Northman, who was staring at me with a seductive, predatory expression. I lifted my drink to my lips and took a quick gulp, focusing on the ice tinkle against the glass to try and distract myself from my racing heart.

"So, Miss Stackhouse. How do you like my establishment?" he drawled. As he spoke, a human waitress came scurrying up to his side and placed a True Blood on a coaster next to him. He ignored her, attentions steady on my face. I felt a blush begin to creep up my cheeks, but I was determined not to embarrass myself or Hadley by acting like a silly school girl. I shifted slightly in the seat and met his bright blue eyes with renewed determination.

"Well, Mr. Northman, everyone seems real… efficient. But I find it a little flashy for my tastes." What I really wanted to say was crass, but Gran had taught me better manners than that. Still, his eyes danced as if I had said that very word out loud. I cocked an eyebrow at him and his smile spread into a wide, almost boyish grin, remarkably absent of fangs. My breath caught in my throat at the sight.

Oh, my, but he was devilishly handsome, a warrior of old forever preserved for the benefit of females everywhere. The bright blue of his eyes sparkled, the muscles in his forearms flexed as he leaned forward on his knees, coming towards me. I could smell his cologne, some spicy scent that made me want to bury my face in his neck and breath deep.

"Would you like to go back to my office with me, Sookie? It's much less… flashy, I can assure you," he said in an irreverent, throaty voice. Oh dear lord.

Normally, right about now was when I started hearing crazy lustful thoughts. I would be right on the edge of wicked kisses, and then suddenly! Bam! They would think something I just couldn't overlook. Except that wasn't happening this time, because Eric was a vampire and try as I could I just couldn't hear them. How unfair was it that the most gorgeous man I had ever met happened to be the first man I might actually be able to sleep with?

"Sookie?" he repeated softly. Time had frozen in the club around us. There was no sound, there were no people. There was no confused Hadley staring at me with flaring nostrils (I was so not going there) or smug Pam standing there with her arms crossed over her chest like she just knew I was going to give in. There was no DJ. There was no pulsing crowd. There was only his face, those deep eyes and quirky smile. Shit. I was in so much trouble.

"No, sir, Mr. Northman," I managed finally, if a bit weakly.

The sexy leer was replaced by no-less-attractive confusion. Then his eyes narrowed and the air around me started to tingle. I could feel a pressure around my head, sort of like the feeling you get when you take too much cold medicine, but other than that, nothing. Oh wait. I'd read about this. It was called glamouring. Supposedly, it let vampires influence you into doing whatever they wanted…. With that thought, I felt my own eyes narrow, and the nearly impossible lust subsided until I could at least think. I waited to feel whatever it was he was trying to compel me into doing, but nothing happened. Huh.

"Are you trying to glamour me, Mr. Northman?"

"I was," he admitted shamelessly, studying my face with unnerving intensity.

"That's just rude," I said primly. He laughed out loud at that, the boyish grin returning full force. Breathe, Sookie.

"Rude, yes, but it should have worked." Uh oh. Pam was staring at me now like I was some sort of caged, exotic animal, and Hadley looked nearly desperate.

"Maybe I just got lucky," I said lightly.

"Perhaps," he said, his handsome face full of questions as he studied me.

I raised my glass nervously to my lips. I was surprised to find it empty, and set it down on the table with a slight thud.

"I'll get it!" Hadley said brightly before dashing off to the bar.

I waited for Eric to press me, but strangely enough he let it go.

"Tell me about yourself, Miss Stackhouse," he said instead, with seemingly renewed manners. Relief flooded me and I gave him a grateful smile.

"Well, I'm a waitress at Merlotte's," I said as Hadley reappeared with a new gin and tonic. I took it and was glad to see my hand wasn't shaking. Normally, I don't drink much, because alcohol makes it harder to shield, but tonight my nerves needed it.

"Thanks, Hadley," I said warmly, before taking a big swallow.

"This would be Sam Merlotte's in Bon Temps?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, pleased that he'd heard of us. "You know him?"

"It is a rather small community," he said, giving me a rather pointed look.

"The bar community?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes," he said, but I had the strangest feeling that wasn't what he'd meant. Suddenly I wished I could read his mind. It was unnerving how difficult it was to have a conversation without my telepathy. Normally, I tried my hardest not to eavesdrop on people's heads, as I consider it rude, but there was just too much happening here for me to be comfortable with. Hadley's warning and my immunity to glamour were not sitting well with me.

His gaze flickered to my left hand, then back to my face.

"Is there a boyfriend?"

"No," I said, more than a little pleased by the question.

"How fortunate for me," he said smoothly, and I felt my face growing hot again. I quickly drained my second drink, but kept it in my hand. I didn't need any more alcohol; my stomach was warm, and a soft buzz was spreading under my skin.

"What about you?" I prompted a little nervously.

"Me?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Yup, the alcohol was definitely working. The mental voices in the bar were getting louder, but strangely enough, I found that I could sort of sift through them absently if I focused most of my attention on Eric. And in return, the voices helped distract me from my raging libido.

"No," he said, voice full of humor. "I don't have a girlfriend." He leaned closer to me and inhaled deeply. Startled, I looked into his shining blue eyes, which were now a few mere inches from my face.

"You smell amazing."

"Um, I'm wearing Obsession," I said breathlessly. "I got it for Christmas."

"No," he contradicted. "I smell that, but you… _You_ smell like the sun dropped from the sky and kissed your skin."

(Un)fortunately for me at that moment, something bad happened. I stiffened as I caught hold of a mental voice, focusing in on it with some difficulty. Eric's face faded from view as images of a feeding vampire filled my head through someone else's eyes. The eyes just happened to belong to a cop, who was already calling for back up.

"Trouble," I managed as Eric's face came back into focus. His eyes darkened instantly and I knew he understood that I wasn't talking about him.

"We've got to get out of here." I was already standing, my little red purse clutched desperately to my chest. Eric rose as well; he towered over me, even with my heels.

"Sookie?" I heard Hadley ask worriedly, but my eyes were all for Eric.

"There's going to be a raid," I said. Eric's hand shot out and grabbed my elbow, and the voices faded to a dull hum. If I hadn't been so scared, I would have sagged with relief.

"How do you know this?" he demanded. His lips drew back from his now fanged teeth and the skin on his face seemed to shrink, glowing even brighter; he looked positively feral. I was terrified by how quickly he had shifted from seducer to monster, but I didn't back down.

"I heard the cop's thoughts," I said. "He was in the bathroom and saw a vampire feeding."

He didn't ask any more questions after that, but barked at Pam in some foreign language, then led me quickly through the bar towards the exit as I struggled to keep up. The crowd parted around him like he was Moses, and we were out the door in seconds. Hadley was right behind us.

"Hadley, you and Pam will meet me at my house. Miss Stackhouse, you are coming with me."

I wanted to say no and just get in my car and go home, I really did, but I had been drinking. There was no way I wanted to get arrested, whether for a DUI or from the impending police raid. I had strong memories of Gran the one time Jason had called her to bail him out. In the distance I heard sirens.

"Oh!" I said when Eric swept me up in his arms and we practically flew across the parking lot. I clung tightly to his bare arms, trying to ignore how incredible it felt to be pressed against the hard muscles of his chest. He stopped in front of a sleek red corvette and opened the door quickly, putting me into the passenger seat and shutting the door. I didn't even have my seatbelt buckled before he had the car started and we were turning out of the parking lot, just as a line of police cars turned in.

So much for keeping my telepathy a secret.

* * *

I had planned on publishing this a couple chapters a week, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stick to that schedule, since I already have the whole story written. I guess it just depends on how many people review. Let me know what you think. The more people review, the faster I post the story!


	3. Chapter 3

**3- Getting Down to Business**

I was watching Eric closely as we pulled out past the cop cars. He didn't say anything, but his hands flexed on the steering wheel. For the first time in my life, I was alone with a man and my own thoughts. I took full advantage of the mental silence to stare at him shamelessly, studying his profile in the dim, flickering light of passing street lamps. He was simply beautiful, from the ocean blue of his eyes, the pearlescent glow of his skin, to the full curve of his lips.

Despite the near call with the police and the fact I was trapped in a car with a GQ vampiric predator that could remember the crusades, I was feeling surprisingly relaxed. Maybe it was because I didn't have to keep my mental shields up around Eric, but I could feel the tension draining away from me the further away from the club we got.

"It is fortunate you were there," he said eventually, breaking the easy silence.

"Well, sure," I said, a little miffed that he hadn't actually said thank you. "You're welcome," I added deliberately, but he didn't respond.

"You are a…" he said instead, doing a little hinting of his own.

"I'm a telepath," I said with a sigh. "I hear people's thoughts."

His head whipped sideways and he stared at me darkly. I got nervous that his eyes weren't on the road, but the car stayed firmly between the lines.

"Even me?" he asked flatly, but there was a dangerous look in his eyes.

"No, no," I said hurriedly. "I can't hear vampires. In fact, it's rather soothing being around y'all."

He stared at me for a few seconds longer, but I met his gaze calmly until he turned his attention back to the road.

"I believe you," he said, and although it was dark in the car, I could tell he was smiling.

"Why's that?" I asked, although I had a pretty good idea.

"You're not blushing."

I certainly was now.

"There," he said, sounding tremendously satisfied. "See?"

I frowned at him.

"I won't tolerate dirty talk, Mr. Northman."

"Call me Eric," he insisted. "And no, I didn't imagine that you would."

"Okay," I said, mollified. Then, "I guess you can call me Sookie." His smile grew wider.

"You're not even the slightest bit afraid of me, are you?" he asked amusedly.

"Let's just say I'm cautious," I said carefully, flashing back on his monstrous expression in Fangtasia when I had told him the cops were coming.

"I've seen enough the last couple nights to realize y'all aren't exactly human." And just like that, he was back to the bored face he'd been wearing when I first saw him in the club.

"No," he said coldly. "We are not human."

"I'm not judging," I said gently. "Lord knows people have judged me for years because I'm different. Just 'cause y'all get deadly sunburns and can only go out at night doesn't mean anybody has a right to treat you with anything but respect. And human or not, y'all have a responsibility to reciprocate," I said, proudly using my word of the day. "We've all got to live on this planet together."

He considered this for a moment before speaking.

"Not all vampires supported the Great Revelation. Many of us felt forced." This conversation was taking a decidedly dark turn, but I was curious about how a thousand years had changed his views on humanity.

"Forced? Why? Isn't it easier not having to hide what you are all the time?"

"To a certain extent yes, but many of us spent centuries hiding in the shadows, feeding in secret. We were laws unto ourselves, and that is a hard thing to come back from. Not everybody believes we should be playing house with the blood bags." Well, there was something to be said for brutal honest.

"And you?" I asked. "What do you believe?"

"I think it depends on the blood bag. You, for example, are definitely worth playing house with," he said, turning to look at me again. His handsome face was full of wicked lust, and my body reacted in kind. I licked my lips nervously, but I found I had a hard time getting angry with him.

"Eric, I told you…"

"Yes, I know. No dirty talk for now." I studiously ignored the 'for now' part of that sentence. "You won't let me seduce you, and I can't scare you or glamour you. Whatever am I going to do with you, Sookie?" he teased.

"Try getting to know me," I shot back.

"Oh, I will most definitely be getting to know you," he said, sounding like a fallen angel.

My mouth went dry, but I was saved from having to say anything as we pulled up to a guard house at the edge of a gated community. Eric flicked his fingers to the guard and we were driving into the quiet community.

"This isn't what I was expecting," I said as we passed street after street of classy, custom houses. No cookie cutter mansions for Eric Northman, it seemed.

"Yes, well, Louisiana is fresh out of castles and moats, I'm afraid." I laughed at that.

We drove to the very edge of the community and pulled up next to a gray field stone house with a two car garage; the bulk of the house was set into a slope to form an unnatural basement. Eric pressed a button and the garage door slid up so we could drive in. Once we were parked, he was out in seconds to open my door and offer me a hand.

"Thank you," I said as he brought me to my feet, close enough to the car that I bumped into him. I expected him to take a step back, but he didn't. Instead, he towered over me, and I had to tilt my head back to look up into his face. His eyes were unfathomably dark in the shadows of the garage, and I shoved my palm to his cool chest to try and stop him from moving any closer. I might as well have been wrestling a mountain. His arms stretched out on either side of me, until I was effectively caged between his hard body and the corvette.

"Eric," I whispered as he leaned down. "What are you doing?"

"Getting to know you," he whispered back, and then neither of us was talking.

His lips were cool and shockingly soft on mine, full and patiently persuasive. Although his body kept me trapped, the kiss was tender, if not gentle, and fangless. I knew if I wanted to pull away I could, but he was doing his best to make sure I wouldn't. His tongue pressed firmly against the corner of my mouth until I opened, then slid along the inside of my bottom lip in a sure stroke, tasting me, teasing me. I whimpered into his mouth, and suddenly the hand on his chest wasn't pushing, but sliding up to cling to his neck. I pulled myself tight against his unyielding torso and deeper into his kiss, and it seemed Eric had spent a thousand years learning how to kiss me just for this moment, just like this. My blood rioted under my skin, my heart beat desperately against my ribs. In my eagerness, my nails sank into his neck, his fangs popped, and he yanked violently away from me.

"I was right," he growled. I was gasping. Sometime during the kiss, his fingers had worked themselves into my hair, and he was clenching fistfuls of it so I couldn't move away from him. Not that I would have, even if I could.

"About what?" I asked dumbly.

"You taste even better than you smell, and that is saying something." My knees felt weak, my eyes dropped shut. Eric Northman had stolen my bones, and he was working on my virtue.

"And you're trembling. So exciting, and here I'm trying very hard to behave with you, Miss Stackhouse."

"Well, isn't this a pretty sight," I heard Pam say. My eyes shot open and I jerked away from Eric. His hands dropped quickly from my head and he took a step back. If he was uncomfortable being caught in a compromising position, it certainly didn't show, but a squadron of fire fighters couldn't have put out the fire in my cheeks. At this rate I would never need to buy blush again.

While I was relearning how to breathe, I heard the sharp beep beep of automatic car locks, and my gaze flew past my grinning cousin and taunting Pam to the driveway. My shock at seeing **a** silver minivan was a blessed distraction from my embarrassment.

"You actually drive a minivan?" I asked Pam as she and Hadley walked into the garage; I was unable to resist. I guess the soccer mom vampire thought wasn't far off.

"It makes it easier to transport the bodies," she said without missing a beat.

Hadley started laughing, and Pam just smiled at me as I tried to hide my shock.

"Shall we go inside, then?" Eric said, interrupting our fun. Pam rolled her eyes at his back, but followed as he walked up the steps leading to the house. Hadley and I were close behind.

"Um, Eric, where's the bathroom?" I asked once we were inside his sterile kitchen. The gin and tonics had finally hit my bladder.

"There is a hallway after you pass through the living room. It is the second door on the right."

"Thank you," I said before I wandered in the direction he had sent me. I looked around in fascination at his living room, and was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The walls were a blue nearly as bright as Eric's eyes, with pure white crown molding. There was a large, deep seated crimson couch with a love-seat in a matching red and gold to offset it. In the far corner was a bright emerald chair with a gold throw, and a large, hand carved coffee table sat in the middle of the room. The walls were bare save for a single painting, a seashore oil on canvas so realistic I could practically smell the salt air.

After my brief survey, I went to the bathroom as quickly as I could, but when I reached for the toilet paper, I was dismayed to find that there wasn't any. Fortunately, I had a few tissues in my purse. I washed my hands and hurried back to the living room.

Eric had changed into a t-shirt while I was in the bathroom, and was now barefoot. He stalked towards me slowly, looking for all the world like a lion on the hunt. I guess that made me the gazelle.

"You're out of toilet paper, Eric," I blurted out nervously as he came closer, but he shook his head.

"You're not?"

"I cannot be out of something I have never had." Pam snickered. "But I'm sure Pam won't mind procuring some for the next time you visit," he finished smoothly.

"Get Bobby to do it. My personal shopper doesn't do retail." Eric snarled something to her in a foreign language, and her lips drew back from her fangs. I was uncomfortable until I saw her eyebrow pop.

"I'll do it," Hadley offered. "I remember what brand she likes." Eric ignored her.

"Sookie, why don't you have a seat on my couch," he offered, taking me by the elbow and leading me around the coffee table. I sat down and instantly sank into the heavy cushions. He sprawled next to me gracefully, his long legs spreading out, hands folded over his stomach. I had a flashback of his abs and was hit by a wave of lust so strong that I swallowed air.

"Now," Eric said with authority. "What has happened at the club, Pamela?"

Hadley had seated herself in the green chair with her legs tucked up under her. Pam stood over her, idly playing with her curls.

"I spoke to Longshadow on the way over here; he stayed and talked to the police. The offending vampire wasn't one of ours. She was visiting from area 9."

"Yes, I remember her when she presented herself. A Taryn something or the other. She's rather new, but nonetheless, Stan will not be pleased. You've spoken with him?"

"With Isabel. Stan was… preoccupied when I called."

"I will deal with it tomorrow." His hard gaze settled on Hadley.

"Now, for a more pressing question. You were aware of Sookie's abilities, Hadley?" I didn't need telepathy to hear the cold censure in his voice. Hadley had to have known this was coming, but it still hurt to watch her brace herself against Eric's anger. I was about to defend her, but she caught the expression on my face and shook her head, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Yes," she said, "but I also knew she couldn't hear vampire thoughts. It was her secret to tell, not mine." Pam had frozen with her fingers trapped in Hadley's hair, and Hadley, too, was perfectly still, waiting for Eric's response. My heart was thumping like a demon in my chest.

"You were being loyal to your family," he said finally, giving her a short nod, and everyone in the room relaxed.

"Sookie," Eric said next, turning his focus to me. I struggled not to squirm under his serious gaze.

"How long have you been telepathic?"

"My first memories are full of other people's thoughts." He seemed to consider this.

"That must have been difficult."

"It still is." I found myself getting a little teary eyed just thinking about it. Stupid alcohol.

"Humans are naturally jealous," he asserted, and **I **choked back a sniffle. He frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying not to cry," I said, opening my eyes wide so the tears wouldn't fall.

"You will not," he commanded. I had to be imagining the panic in his voice.

"I'm sorry," I said, struggling to get myself under control. "It's just… I'm not used to this. Any of this."

I gave him a watery smile.

"Explain." As if I could summarize 25 years of being a social pariah into a few short sentences. But I would try.

"I don't ever talk about any of this, not even with Gran. My whole life it's been like a dirty secret. Most people just think I'm crazy."

"They are fools," he said dismissively. "But who else besides us in this room is aware of what you can do?"

"Well, my family of course," I said, smiling at Hadley.

"You are the only one in your family with this gift? Or anything similar?"

"Nobody's ever said anything, that's for sure." I looked at Hadley.

"Hadley, did anybody in the family ever say anything to you about something similar?"

"No," she said. She was currently playing with the lace skirt of Pam's dress. "Nobody's ever said anything to me."

I looked back at Eric and shrugged.

"I guess not, then."

"And your boss Sam Merlotte, is he aware that you have read his thoughts?"

"I've read his mind a few times accidently when I wasn't shielding," I admitted, "but I try my best to stay out of his head, and he knows that. I like my job. I don't want to find something out and have to quit."

"Anyone else?" I thought about it for a minute.

"My friend Tara. Everybody else that suspects, they just think I'm psychic."

"And this shielding you mention. It allows you to block thoughts?"

"Most of the time."

"Were you shielding tonight when you heard the cop?" I hesitated at that.

"I was experimenting," I decided out loud.

"Experimenting how?"

"Well, once I realized that you all, vampires, I mean, were blank zones to me, I focused on you like you were an anchor. The alcohol loosened up my brain, and I just sort of floated through the thoughts at the top of my head while I was using the rest of it to fli- talk with you," I finished hastily. "It was like skimming cream."

"You have never done such a thing before?"

"I've never even met a vampire before last night. And no, I've never experimented on people before."

"And you said you heard the cop while he was in the bathroom. Does distance affect your ability?" I was beginning to understand that Eric Northman was a ruthless, thorough sort, but I had to admit his questions were good ones.

"The further away I am, the harder it is to hear someone, yes. Touch helps bring it in to focus."

"Det är bra. Endast shifter vet, och hon uppenbarligen har stor kontroll," he said abruptly.

"Hon är lycklig hon inte faktiskt gå galet," Pam shot back.

"Ja."

"Pam, you and Hadley will go retrieve Sookie's car for her," he said, switching back to English. "Enough time has passed, and I wish to speak with her further."

"Of course," Pam said, walking over to me with Hadley on her heels.

"Your keys?" I hesitated. Did I really want to be alone with Eric again?

"Don't worry," he said with a teasing grin. "I won't bite unless you ask me to." I scoffed.

"In your dreams, Eric Northman," I said as I reached out to the coffee table for my purse and keys.

"Oh, most definitely in my dreams."

"We'll be right back," Pam said, my keys clanking dully as they hit her palm.

And just like that, I was once again alone with my Viking suitor.

* * *

Swedish translations:

"Det är bra. Endast shifter vet, och hon uppenbarligen har stor kontroll." -This is good. Only the shifter knows, and she obviously has great control.

"Hon är lycklig hon inte faktiskt gå galet." -She is lucky she didn't actually go crazy.

"Ja." -Yes.

* * *

**Another chapter for you guys... I don't think I'm going to be able to draw out posting this story. I went to bed last night with three people following and woke up with over a dozen following. So glad you guys like it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**4- Ground Rules**

Being alone with Eric Northman was like finding myself stalked by an escaped lion afterhours at the zoo. Look, there's the peanut cart, the orangutan hut, and the crazy ass king of the jungle. Better hope he's not hungry. Even as I thought this, his wild blue eyes glinted with calculated hunger, and he took a step towards me. It was all I could do not to follow Pam and Hadley out. When I realized I was inching towards doing just that, I snapped my spine straight and grinned my nerves at the slowly approaching Viking for all I was worth.

"Nervous, Miss Stackhouse?"

"Yes," I admitted flatly, and he flashed me a killer's grin. Lordy, he was tall. Despite his vaulted ceilings and open floor plan, Eric made the room seem cramped.

"Yet in the club you were resolute, facing down the scary vampire so he wouldn't end up in a cage. Or perhaps that was only for your cousin's sake?"

"Y'all didn't do anything deserving a cage," I said by way of ignoring his question. "It was that visiting vamp Taryn that caused the whole scene."

"You were not this frightened in the car." He stepped closer and peered down at me, considering.

"Perhaps you thought I would harm your cousin for failing to inform me of your special… endowments?" I didn't need my Word of the Day to explain that one. His eyes were glued on my more than ample bosom, but at least I was spared the perversity of his thoughts. Lucky Sookie.

Right.

"Get a grip," I said to both of us. "She did it to protect me, not to deny you."

"I am aware of her reasoning, Miss Stackhouse."

"I would think you'd be happy learning one of your vamps is so good at keeping secrets, Mr. Northman, especially considering the big scary you put on her when you found out."

"Pamela would not have chosen her if she were not."

"Would you really have hurt her?" I demanded. Vampire or not, there were lines, and even if there weren't, I would draw them in front of my family.

"It would have been within my rights," he hedged.

"That's not an answer." His eyes flashed at that, lips peeling back from his dropped fangs. I kept my spine stiff, refusing to cower at his monstrous expression, even though I wanted to. I quickly modified lucky Sookie to pigheaded Sookie.

"And this is not your inquisition. I am required to tell you nothing."

"She's my family," I insisted, jerking up my chin and matching his cold eyes with a little Southern heat. "I'm not about to let you hurt her over me."

"Well, you certainly are a devoted little thing. Let's hope that makes upfor your foolhardiness."

"Are you gonna punish her later or not?"

"If I were to punish her, it would have been done here, in private."

"With me as a witness?" He seemed amused by that.

"A witness to what? By the time you managed to call anyone, she would have been healed."

"Oh," I said. What exactly was I supposed to make of that? That he wouldn't have hurt her badly, or that even if he had, it wouldn't really have mattered because she couldn't die? I was stumped.

"I will tell you this, Miss Stackhouse. I am a vampire of strong actions." He lifted a big hand to accompany the statement and cupped the side of my face. Two fingers lightly tapped my temple, and a spicy hint of leftover cologne teased me with the motion. My eyes widened.

"Even with this extraordinary mind, if you are to judge me do so by what you see."

"Better yet, by what you feel."

His cool lips pressed to my tripping pulse, and it was the closest my healthy body had ever come to swooning.

"I wonder what devotion tastes like," he murmured into my neck.

"Don't bite me," I said desperately at the sharp tease of fang.

"I won't," he promised, peppering my lust with irritation.

"Why not?" I demanded, and he laughed into the crease where my neck met my shoulder. I slapped a hand to his shoulder and he just plain lost it. It's something, I'll tell you, having a towering Viking hunched over giggling at you like a madman.

"What's wrong with me?" That sobered him quick. He snapped up and glared down at me.

"You will dispense with this talk," he ordered, and I glared right back.

"Maybe you're used to ordering your food about, but I won't tolerate such nonsense, Mr. Northman."

"Eric," he insisted imperiously.

"And if you were serious about getting to know me, know this: I may choose to offer you a vein, but I will never willingly offer you the reigns."

"I am not interested in an easy ride, Miss Stackhouse."

"More than that you'll want to be careful you don't get kicked."

"Poetic," he murmured, blue eyes glinting with a predator's hunger. "I don't believe I have ever been so elegantly told to fuck off."

"I would never be so crass, Mr. Northman," I said from between my teeth.

"With your skills you don't have to be, Ms. Stackhouse," he retorted smoothly. "But to address the previous absurdity: there is nothing wrong with you other than your unfortunately limited social group."

"My Gran loves me, and my boss Sam is good to me. Tara, too," I defended rather weakly.

"And the rest of them?"

"Them all just don't know any better."

"A motto for the ages. Humans," he snarled. "Always trying to browbeat the extra from extraordinary. I could certainly show them a thing or two about beating." His eyes gleamed, his pale skin glowed with the possibility.

"You wouldn't!" I said, appalled. I had a vision of a tall blond Viking of fury descending on sluggish little Bon Temps and was torn between humor and horror. "You just can't!"

He leered at that, and I scowled.

"You better not," I warned.

"Of course not. I've a firm grip on my reigns, as you put it, but even a dead man can dream." There was more to the statement, but whatever it was, stayed silent. My throat went lumpy at the look in his eyes, and I switched from irritated to nurturing in a flash.

"Eric," I said, lifting my palm to his glowing cheek, willing my warmth into his flesh. His eyes flicked from my hand to my throat to my eyes, from warm to hot to icy. Confusion filled me, but I kept my palm where it was as he began to speak in guarded tones.

"You're a dangerous woman, Sookie Stackhouse. But dangerous enough? That has yet to be seen."

He drew back abruptly and reached for his BlackBerry, flashing his thumb over buttons with enough speed to shame a cheetah.

"In the meantime, I have a proposal for you." Probably the only one I was every going to get, I thought woodenly.

"I'm listening," I said with my nervous kooky smile. Not that he noticed.

His eyes were hard on his phone. He frowned at it, pressed a few more buttons, then nodded dismissively before dropping it onto his antique coffee table. It was a strange visual blend of two different centuries, much as the Viking before me in jeans and a t-shirt.

"Please sit, Ms. Stackhouse," he said, all business from voice to eyeballs.

I sat for the please and ignored the command. It was his nature, after all, and he was trying. I smoothed my dress under my legs, careful not to flash panty, and folded my hands in my lap like we were at a garden party.

"What's this about, then, Mr. Northman?" I politely prompted.

"Before I tell you that, I should explain to you a little about my position."

"Okay."

"Aside from running Fangtasia, I hold a seat of some authority in the vampire community. I'm sheriff of Area 5, which includes Shreveport and your Bon Temps. Primarily, I am responsible for resolving and preventing disputes."

"You corral vamp interests," I quipped, trying to return us to our levity, but he was having none of it. This was strictly business.

"Yes. As such, I stay alert to any valuable resources in my area. And you, Ms. Stackhouse, are a valuable resource."

"Am I?" I asked warily. If Hadley hadn't have warned me earlier, I would have been spooked. Well, _more_ spooked.

"Most definitely. What happened in Fangtasia tonight is only the surface possibility of your talent. You will be a huge asset to the mainstreaming movement." I grinned my nerves at him.

"Don't I get a say?" I asked cheerfully.

"Of course you get a say," he said, but only in the literal sense of the word.

"But?" He shrugged those broad shoulders, testing the seams on his t-shirt.

"My world is a world of death. You could ease that some." Well, wasn't he all shades of clever, lacing his commandeering with an appeal to my sense of justice.

"So is this your archaic and roundabout way of blackmailing me into a job?"

"Sookie, really! I have much more effective, and pleasant, methods of coercion," he said, batting big blue eyes.

"Yes or no, Viking."

"Yes, I suppose I am offering you a job. It would pay well," he added with a knowing gleam.

"I bet."

"And I am a considerate boss, if perhaps a bit demanding." He frowned as if he hadn't meant to say that.

"Well at least you're honest," I said pleasantly, watching irritation flit over his fallen angel face.

"Apparently," he drawled. "I will allot you some time to think on it."

"Oh, I already have my answer." His left eyebrow rose quirkily.

"Oh?" he mimicked snottily.

"Yes. Hadley warned me this might be coming, so I'd be ready for it, I guess."

"Did she?" he all but purred, and an unpleasant chill rode my spine from bottom to top.

"All she said was you'd offer me a job, probably, that's all," I said quickly. "And if it weren't for her, chances are I wouldn't have been so keen to poke around tonight and I wouldn't have heard that cop. So really you should thank Hadley."

"I think that would depend on your answer."

"Well it's yes, obviously. Though I have a few conditions."

"Such as?"

"Such as nobody can die off the information I get. I won't live with that on my conscience."

"I will agree to no human deaths." I started to protest, but he cut it down more with logic than tone.

"Supe crimes will not be addressed with human punishment. I will have order in my area."

"Alright," I conceded eventually, giving a reluctant nod. "I guess that makes sense."

"What else?"

"I'll have to work around my Merlotte's schedule." He scoffed at that.

"I can pay you much better than Merlotte."

"I'm sure, but Sam gave me the opportunity to provide for myself when a lot of others wouldn't. Besides that, he's a good man." Eric snorted, actually snorted at that, and my eyes widened.

"You know otherwise?"

"I know many things," he drawled. "But I am hiring you for your judgment, after all. What sense would it make to question that judgment over such a minor point? They are your feet to wear out. At least working for me you can afford better footwear."

He gave a scathing glance to my red Wal-Mart pumps, and I had to fight the urge to slap him.

"Listen up good, you. What right have you to come at me like that, making comments like that? My shoes may be cheap, but expensive tastes sure can't pay for good manners."

He started to say something, but I barreled over him with my fury. For the most part I'm good natured, but when my temper gets riled, boy does it get riled. Apparently not even a thousand year old killer could make it mind.

"I live my life as I can, and until tonight that included less than a hand's count worth of dates. Why would I waste good money on shoes I ain't ever gonna wear?"

My eyes welled and I had to hold my lashes very, very still so my tears wouldn't start. He didn't have any tissue, after all.

"My apologies," he said softly after a painfully long moment. "That was tactless."

"Damn straight."

"And I incited curses from that tea party mouth. I am a true villain. You must allow me to make amends." He leaned over the couch with a dangerous glint to his eye, and for the second time that evening I slapped out a no-nonsense palm to his immovable chest. He stopped on courtesy this time, at least.

"You keep that thoughtless tongue right where it is, Mr. Northman," I warned. "I'll have no more of it tonight."

"My, we are ruthless, aren't we, Miss Stackhouse?"

"If I'm not, I'd better learn fast," I shot back. Especially if I wanted to get out of this thing alive, I thought grimly.

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem." Quick as you like, he flipped from seducer to paper pusher.

"I already have Pam on the necessary paperwork-"

"Don't you move fast," I muttered.

"-including our group health plan. We may be vampires, but we don't live in the Dark Ages. Shall I swing by your house with them tomorrow night?" He rose, stretching out to his glorious height, and offered me a hand.

I took it hesitantly and let him lift me to my feet as I weighed my answer. The offered drop-by filled me with unease. What would Gran have to say about my vampire boss-slash-potential suitor? Generally speaking, my Gran was open of both heart and mind, but being as I don't date, this sort of scenario had never come up. Still, it might be a good opportunity to ease her in before Hadley's visit, as long as Eric behaved himself.

"Um, I guess so. I work a halfsie shift, noon to 8, so any time after is fine. But my Gran will be there, so you'd best behave." If that was even possible.

"I will wear my best manners," he said, gallantly inclining his head. His long hair fell around his face with the gesture, a golden frame to masculine art. Lust clawed at my insides like a rabid cat, and I watched his nostrils flare in response. I took an appalled step back, and though his eyes narrowed he let me. Instead, he shoved his eyes back to his BlackBerry and picked it up off the table. Disappointment flooded my discomfort.

Oh, Lord, I was in so much trouble.

"Okay, then," I sniffed. I glanced down at his screen and my eyes widened at the time display.

"Gosh, is it really that late? I gotta go home and get some sleep. I wonder where Pam is with my car. I hope there wasn't any more trouble."

"Your car's already parked outside," he said off-handedly.

"It is?"

"Yes. The keys are in the ignition. I told Pam to leave it so we could finish our discussion at our leisure."

"How thoughtful," I said wryly. Eric Northman seemed to be a vamp accustomed to people accommodating him. In the job department, he could keep on being accustomed. I take my work seriously, even if it's just delivering beer mugs and French fried pickles. And being as my new telepathic duties would have life or death consequences, I'd take them all the more seriously. But in other areas, he was about to learn there'd be no sheriffing of Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic barmaid.

As I was deciding this, he gestured at me with his BlackBerry and began priming the keys.

"Give me your cell number in case I should need to get in touch with you."

"No cell," I said.

"No cell," he repeated dimly, eyes narrowing. "You live in rural Louisiana and work bar hours with no cell phone?"

"Yup," I cheerfully confirmed. "I get conversation enough to last me at work, and the house has a landline for necessary calls."

"Not good enough."

"I beg your pardon?" I said archly.

"You will be working vampire hours, Miss Stackhouse. Surely you don't want me calling at 4 a.m. and waking your grandmother." Four a.m.? What was I getting myself into?

"No," I said reluctantly. "I wouldn't want that."

"I'll take care of it, then," he said with an imperious wave of his BlackBerry. All he needed was a tattoo that said "Mr. Highhanded." My earlier conviction to stand up to this creature returned full force. I narrowed my eyes and replanted my reasonably priced footwear.

"Yeah, I don't think so. How about I go pick one up at Wal-Mart tomorrow and get you the number?" His blue eyes narrowed in turn.

"That will not be convenient," he said arrogantly.

"Like I give two hoots. I may have agreed to work for you, but I refuse to be kept by you. If you're so worried about the phone bill, pay me extra."

He closed the distance between us in a flash, doing that vampire super speed thing I didn't think I would ever get used to. A sheet of paper couldn't have slipped between our bodies, and yet I knew he was being careful not to touch me. He loomed over me, radioactive skin glowing, eyes cold blue marbles, and all the scarier for his lack of fangs. I was getting a double serving of Eric's control, it seemed.

"Careful, Miss Stackhouse." His voice was soft, but my senses trembled with the implied threat. And even more terrifying than that, with implied lust.

"We may be speaking of business, but you are in my home. If I chose to keep you here, there'd be none who could stop me. No one even knows you're here."

"Hadley does," I whispered with jerky lips and wide eyes.

"Hadley is Pam's creature, and Pam is mine. It would be wise to remember that."

"Forgetting's hardly likely," I assured him, and he gave me a wry smile before pulling back to a more professional distance.

"Good. As to the phone… it is a business matter. Take it as such."

"You get phones for all your employees, then?" I asked, more relieved than suspicious. There was a drop of sweat tickling my spine, and an uncomfortable dampness between my legs.

"All the important ones," he said with hot eyes, and I melted a little more.

"Alrighty, then," I said weakly. I had to get out of there. It had been a rollercoaster of a night, what with a long lost cousin, a bar raid, my telepathic confessions, our dangerous lustiness, and my new job. I was just exhausted. At this rate I was going to be as dead on my feet as Eric come morning, and it seemed I wasn't the only one coming to that conclusion.

"You should be in bed," Eric said without irony, or as far as I could tell without reading his thoughts. My suspicious eyes searched his face, but found only innocent concern. Right. Like anything this ancient Viking did was less than deliberate.

"Are you up for driving? If not, I could take you and deliver your car tomorrow evening."

I hesitated at the offer. I'd had two drinks, and I was exhausted, but enough time had passed, and I needed some time to think for a different set of reasons than usual. No, it'd be best if I took myself home.

"Thanks a bunch, but I'm used to working nights. I'll be fine."

"Drive safely, then."

"Thanks. Goodnight, Eric."

"Goodnight. And Sookie?"

"Yes, Eric?"

"You may hate the idea of being kept, but you will relish being mine." Never have condiments sounded so profane.

"Is that a fact?" I said, trying for scolding but coming across more as curious. I was a flawed virgin, it seemed.

"Oh, irrefutably, my telepathic temptress."

"Just remember what I said, Eric," I warned, backing slowly away from his sensual stalk. How long could we keep this up? Sam was gonna kill me at work tomorrow.

"Oh, I remember. You may keep your reigns, and buck as you like. I can hold my seat."

I fled his fanged leer, and was pulling into my driveway still trying to decide what talk had terrified me more: the violence or the sex.

Sex, I decided as I wearily turned my key in the lock. Gran was asleep, but she'd left the hall light on. I tiptoed to my room, skipping over a creaky floorboard before stripping my dress off and shoving it into my hamper. I set my high-heels neatly back in my closet next to my work shoes, but was too tired to even wash my face or put on my nightgown on. I collapsed onto my bed, rolling myself in my comforter, and tried to match my thoughts to my sluggish limbs.

Did it surprise me that the threat of sex was scarier than the threat of blood? Not exactly. I've spent so much time in other people's heads, and you best believe most of those heads were full of violence and sex. There's not much that's been thought that I haven't heard, and what people say and do pale in comparison what they think.

As to what I let myself think… Violence I've dealt with. My fingers have twitched towards the baseball bat under the bar a time or two when a drunk got rowdy at Merlotte's, and in high school Carrie Baker and I nearly exchanged fists over a foul pitch. But sex? Oh, I get yearnings, just like everybody else, but I do everything I can to ignore them. With my disability, I can't even consider it seriously, and what good does it do to dwell on what can never be? They may call me crazy, but I sure won't ever give them reason to call me miserable.

No, it wasn't any surprise the sex was scarier, but it did worry me. Eric was the first man- male, I mentally corrected- who had shown an interest I could even hope to reciprocate. I fingered the edge of my comforter as I considered that. He was handsome, devastatingly so, and he certainly had wit to spare. He seemed to be fair enough, if perhaps more than a little ruthless. And he was successful. He owned his own business and was sheriff of vampire Area 5. But did I even like him, or was I just enthralled with the possibility of him? Could I ever go to bed with him without remembering I was sleeping with a millennium old killer? And what made me think that a girl like me could really matter in the long run of forever?

I scowled at that morose thought and shoved my face violently into my pillow, breathing in the clean scent of sun-dried linen. This was pointless, and I needed sleep. Even with that resolution, sleep was a long time coming. I tossed and turned and rolled my comforter into chaos to match my thoughts.

Just before I finally drifted off, I thought I caught a glimpse of Eric's glowing face peering in through my window pane. Checking on me? I wondered groggily. Or wishful dreaming? Either way, I fell asleep with a smile.

* * *

**Thank you, thank you to all of you that have reviewed this story so far! I had forgotten how much I loved this story when I had written it, and having you review it has taken me back... I'm glad you're all enjoying it so much, and I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying all your reviews! I'm trying to upload the chapters so there won't be any cliffhangers, and we're just getting into the meat of it now... Enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**5- Lessons**

Morning came round in a blink. I staggered into the kitchen, nearly weeping when I caught sight of the full coffee pot. I was on cup three before my brain fired, and even then I almost put the milk in the cabinet with the cereal box.

"You alright this morning, Sookie?" Gran asked, giving me a funny look. She had come in just as I was taking the milk out of the cabinet.

"Sure," I said sheepishly. "Just sleepy, is all."

I probably deserved a lecture, but Gran was too used to Jason. More to the point, she was so thrilled I'd actually had a night out, she probably wouldn't even have batted an eyelash if I flashed some risqué ink.

"Well, you just drink that coffee on up and I'll brew you a fresh pot."

She dropped a passing kiss on my forehead just as I was yawning out my thanks. How in the world did Jason manage to keep a regular job considering his overactive nightlife? His boss, Catfish Hennessey, wasn't known for putting up with much. I guess I hadn't inherited Jason's stamina. Just as soon as I thought that, I imagined Eric putting me to the test, and I nearly dropped the creamer.

_How about that?_ I mused. It seemed Eric Northman was intent on becoming a round-the-clock part of my life, despite the daylight restrictions. First as Hadley's boss, and now mine, and he obviously had strong hopes in the romance department. I had to talk to Gran about all this.

I watched her putt around making coffee and thought hard about what to say. There was a lot. Hadley first off, but somehow explaining about my new job seemed easier. If Gran could see that vampires were regular enough, it might soften the news of Hadley being a vampire. As she settled down at the table and picked up her novel, I read the title and got a quick slap of Fate.

It was an Anita Blake vampire hunter novel. I'd read a book or two in the series, and when Anita wasn't slaughtering the vampires, she was, uh, _loving_ them. I wondered which visceral part appealed to Gran the most.

Only one way to find out.

"Hey Gran, can I talk to you 'bout something?" I asked in my sweetest voice, and Gran looked up from her paperback.

"Yes dear?" Her voice was as sweet as mine, but her eyes were eagle sharp behind her half-moon readers. I squirmed a bit as I gave her a sunny smile.

"So last night when I went out-"

"You met a man!" she exclaimed, and I laughed.

"Well, not a man exactly. A vampire. His name's Eric Northman." As I said this, I did something I normally never, ever did: I deliberately spied on my Gran's thoughts.

Gran was thinking a vampire had probably seen enough of the world's strangeness that my mind reading wasn't such a big deal. She was thinking what idiots Bon Temps' men were, that they scared too easy, and that I'd probably never be happy with a normal man anyway. I smiled hard at the 'normal' and slammed my mind shut. I guess that's what I got for listening where I shouldn't.

"Tell me about him! What was he like?"

"Oh, he's super tall, and beyond handsome. He used to be a Viking." Her eyes widened at that.

"Like the opera singers with the helmets and the braids?" I tried imagining Eric with two long braids and a horned helmet and started giggling like a drunk. I was real, real tired.

"Sorta, but he seems real modern. He even has a cell phone."

"Certainly has us beat there," she said with a twinkle.

"He owns a bar called Fangtasia where my friend works now." I wondered idly if you got extra licks in hell for lying to your grandmother. "And he's a vampire sheriff."

"How fascinating! But that does make sense, I guess. They'd have to have government of some kind living together as they do for all those years."

"That's what I thought! And, well… I _overheard_ a bit of trouble while we were talking-" –_flirting_- "-and I gave him a heads up."

I hesitated. This is where it got complicated. I'd already taken the job, and Gran sure didn't need to know how dangerous it was. It was my responsibility, and I didn't want her worrying. I knew from reading that vampires couldn't come inside without an invitation, so I'd leave any trouble that came up right outside with them. And I wanted this chance to do something with what I'd been given, so….

"Thing is, Gran… He offered me a job reading people's thoughts for, uh, government purposes and all. And well… I took it."

"I see," she said carefully. Even though I was tempted, I didn't try and read her mind again.

"It's a good job," I added hurriedly, as she seemed to be puzzling it over. "No one's gonna get hurt or nothing, I made sure of that. It pays real well, and they've got a group health plan. And I did think about it first. I knew before I warned him that Mr. Northman would be interested in what I can do."

A few twitchy minutes went by while she mulled this over.

"If all that's true, then I think it'll be wonderful," she said finally. Her tone was firm.

"You do?" I said with joyful relief.

"Yes. I know it hasn't been easy on you, Sookie. You had mind enough to go on to college and make something of your life." I looked at her with surprise and a little bit of pain.

"I'm happy, Gran," I said, taking her hand.

"I know you are," she said gently, moving her other hand on top of mine. "You've always been happy just as you are, and as far as I'm concerned that's your real gift. But…" She trailed off and studied my face with enough seriousness to have me squirming.

"But?" I prodded gently.

"But you've got wistful eyes, Sookie-"

My heart cracked on hearing this.

"-and some days I've a mind to turn the whole world on its head for putting such years on you. All those secrets you're keeping, and not a soul willing to respect yours. Fools, the whole damn lot of them."

"I can handle it, Gran." She scowled at that, and I was duly reminded where my own temper got its roots.

"'Course you can! God couldn't have chosen better, and damn the devil for spoiling the rest of them."

This was quite the curse for Gran, and my lips went wide on hearing it. I smile all the time because of my nerves, but Gran's just about the only one who can earn a happy one. She smiled at me, softer this time.

"Do you like him, Sookie?"

There was no doubting the meaning to her words. I hesitated, even though I'd lost a precious sleeping hour to wondering just that.

"I want to," I said finally. "And there's stuff I like _about_ him. But I think I need some time with him before I figure things out."

"I think it'll be good for you," she said mischievously.

"You do? Not, well, dangerous, or anything?" She scoffed at that.

"Folks are always going on about vamps being monsters and such, but they managed all those years 'cept for a story or two, didn't they? They might very well be dangerous, but there's humans that are just as scary. I call them as I see them, and your Mr. Northman won't be an exception just 'cause he's a bit long in the tooth."

I had been planning on waiting until after Gran met Eric to ease her into the new dead until dark Hadley, but if God had hand delivered a conversation**al **road map, his directions couldn't have been anymore plain. This was Adele Stackhouse, after all, and she has the best listening ears in all of Renard Parish.

"There's even more, Gran," I confessed, heart speeding up with what I was about to say.

"You know you can tell me anything, Sookie." My reluctance seemed all the more ridiculous for those words, but I was still glad we were both sitting down. I took her wrinkled hand in mine and gave it a light squeeze.

"You know that friend from high school I met at Fangtasia? It was Hadley, Gran." Gran went stiff as a board at Hadley's name, but I pushed on. "She's a vampire now."

Her hand flexed in mine, her blue eyes clouded with sorrow. When fat tears started rolling down her cheeks, I hurried up to tell her some good news.

"I've never seen her look so healthy, Gran. She works for Eric, too, and she's in a relationship."

"She's happy?" Gran asked as I was handing her a paper napkin.

"I really think she is. She just glows." Literally, I thought wryly. "She showed up while you were at your club looking for you, and, well, honestly I thought I'd check things out first before y'all reconnected."

"But vampires can't- I mean I thought they couldn't-" She couldn't seem to bring herself to talk about Hadley's addiction problems, even though she'd been more than willing to pay for her rehab.

"Nope, they sure can't," I confirmed. "Hadley won't ever be going back to that."

"Lord be praised," she whispered tearfully, head dipping down as she continued her prayer. I held her hand and prayed right along with her. For all the stress Hadley had brought to the family, I knew Gran and I both still loved her. She'd been my good friend when we were kids, kind to me when others hadn't been. I could remember her thoughts from before the drugs had taken over, and she'd always had a sweetness to her that I rarely hear. I prayed with everything in me that we'd be close again. When I was finished praying I raised my head to look at Gran.

The joy in her was so beautiful she looked like she'd gotten a face lift.

"Every night I prayed for that child. Every night wondering if I'd be burying another one too soon, or if I'd even get the chance to."

"Oh, Gran, why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Some things you feel too much to speak of."

I knew this, of course, but from second hand thoughts only. The truth was I'd never felt anything so deeply that I couldn't share it at least with the woman in front of me, but for all our love and all my abilities, she'd kept her own confidences. I glanced down into my fourth cup of coffee as I considered this, and felt a pang as I realized I'd never in all my 25 years had a partner. I'd had family, co-workers, classmates, and the rare friend, but never a partner, and I wanted one. I wanted one something fierce. Something must have showed on my face, because Gran was looking at me funny again. Time to refocus.

"I invited Hadley to dinner sometime this week. I'll have to check at work for my night off, and then I'll call her and set it up. Okay?"

Gran flustered at that, eyes roaming around the kitchen in pre-cleaning mode. There'd be a rash of it, I knew.

"Good Lord! What will I make?" I laughed at that.

"You don't have to make anything, Gran. They drink their meals. Speaking of, you think you've got time to stop by and grab some True Blood for tonight? Mr. Northman said he was gonna stop by with my paperwork." I hesitated.

"If that's alright?"

"Of course it is, Sookie! It's the least I can do, seeing as he had a hand in Hadley settling down, and giving you a chance to use what God's given you. I aim to thank the man!" I beamed at her and jumped up to give her a smacking kiss.

"Thanks Gran! I got to get to work."

"Have a good day, honey. I just can't wait for tonight." Her eyes gleamed at the prospect.

Yup, that's my Gran. Just full of surprises.

* * *

By the time I got to Merlotte's, I was a cheerful zombie. I did my prep work as quickly and as carefully as I could, but still managed to spill iced tea all over the bar. Sam looked at me as funnily as Gran had earlier that morning.

"Sorry," I apologized, reaching for a spare rag to clean up the rapidly spreading tea.

"Late night, Sook?" he asked as I mopped at the edges with a sluggish hand.

My boss Sam is a good looking man, with wiry reddish blond hair that always seems to run away from him. But he's quick to kindness, quicker to laugh, and most of the time I can't hear his thoughts. Those are just some of the reasons I love working for him. But this morning as I was cleaning, one of his thoughts practically jumped at me.

Sam was thinking that if he didn't know me better he'd think I was seeing someone. I slammed down my shields and offered him a perky smile. Late night or not, I had better do better than this if I wanted to last the shift.

"Sure was. I went out with an old girlfriend from high school," I said, hedging. Hadley's new life style was hers to share with Bon Temps, not mine.

"It was fun, but a little more excitement than I'm used to, I guess." Guess nothing. Last night had dumped my definition of excitement upside down on its boring little head.

"Sounds great. You definitely need to get out more." I gave him a grateful smile that didn't quite hide my wistfulness.

"So where'd y'all go?" he asked as I rinsed the dripping rag in the sink.

"Well, we went to Shreveport, to the bar where she works." He grabbed another rag from a bucket of sanitizer, giving the bar a once over for me.

"Which bar?" asked my fellow waitress, Dawn Green, sliding into the conversation like she'd been the one to start it. I used the few seconds wringing and hanging the rag on the sink gave me to think furiously. What difference did it make if I'd been to a vampire bar? I'd been with my cousin, and even if that hadn't been the case, I hadn't done anything wrong, had I? I had successfully resisted the wicked vampire.

Sure Sookie. Tell yourself another one.

"Fangtasia," I said with more confidence than I felt. "She's a vampire now, so I was perfectly safe in her company," I added at Sam's dark look.

"Who wants safe?" Dawn said coyly. "Speaking of, Sookie, did you see the big blond on the throne?"

My lips twitched at the remembered lust in her thoughts, and I struggled with a blush as they collided with my own memories. Apparently, Eric's confidence was as solidly grounded as his ego was not. Well it just figured, didn't it? Dawn was tall and gorgeous, if perhaps a tad malicious. Why wouldn't Eric want her?

"Mr. Northman?" I asked hesitantly, trying to make it look like I was searching my memories. When I opened my eyes I noticed Sam was watching me strangely, nostrils flaring much as Eric's had last night. I frowned at that thought, but Dawn quickly regained my attention.

"Yeah, Eric Northman! Isn't he something?"

I took another peek at her memories and got a flash of his pale, perfectly sculpted butt and had to steady my lusty hand on the bar.

"I guess so," I managed nonchalantly. Fortunately I have years in practice in faking it.

"But it was kinda crazy in there last night. My friend introduced us, and then I... overheard a policeman talking 'bout a raid, so we all had to get out of there fast."

Sam's dark look had turned black.

"Hey Dawn, you think you can run to the cooler and grab some more lemons?" he said, staring at me hard.

"But Sam, you just sliced up three whole batches."

"Can't ever have enough lemon," he said, and she reluctantly sauntered off.

"Sookie," he said as soon as she was out of earshot. "Tell me you didn't let Eric Northman know what you can do."

I stared at him in confusion. This was unfamiliar ground for me. Five people in three days wanting to talk all about my "secret." After years of everyone ignoring it like it was some kind of unpleasant disease, and all of sudden vampires enter the picture, telling me it matters, that _I_ matter, and _now_ everybody wants to make a fuss? I could feel my temper starting to rise.

"Actually Sam, I did."

He started to say something, something nasty from the look on his face, and I cut him off.

"I was saving my friend, alright? I wasn't about to let her go to jail. And Eric Northman was very pleasant about it all. He didn't scare me." Much. "And he offered me a job, Sam."

"God damn it, Sook!" My temper went to boil in a flash. "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"Don't you use that language on me, Sam Merlotte!"

"I'm sorry, Sookie, but I'm telling you, it's never just a job with vampires! If you think just because you've got this talent of yours that they're gonna keep you safe, think again. You need to watch yourself."

"You're telling me, Sam? Or warning me?" His frustration simmered in his thoughts, but even now I couldn't get a clear read. Not for the first time, I wondered at that.

"You take it as you like."

"It's just business, Sam. _My_ business."

"I care about you, damn it." I opened my mouth to snap at him, to apologize, to ask for an explanation, but the possibility was lost.

"Sookie Stackhouse?" interrupted a cheerful Texan girl twang. Sam and I turned to glare as one.

I made out her face first, browner even than my own healthy tan, and the long mahogany braid she had curving over her left shoulder. I followed its neat lines down over her blue work polo and ended up with a view full of daisies.

A whole, whole lot of daisies. It looked like someone had gone out into a ten acre field and went plumb crazy plucking them up. Looking at them was a strange combination of abundance and sweet. I heard Sam growl and briefly closed my eyes in silent prayer.

"Just business, huh?" Sam said before stomping back to the store room. I gave the girl a nervous crazy smile and reached for the flowers.

"Well, these sure are nice," I said with enough sweet to cower a dentist.

"Simple maybe, but he's got great taste. Brought this in with him." She tapped her coral tipped finger on the side of the vase and it sang cheerfully into the air. "That's turn-of-the-century Baccarat, darlin'."

"That's nice," I managed. I was thinking back to Gran's favorite Antiques Road Show, trying to get a grip on just how much such a thing was worth. I was scared even to touch it.

"You enjoy now," she said, putting the posh white meadow into my arms with a chipper smile.

"Thanks," I said dimly as she bounced out the door of Merlotte's.

I lifted the card with hesitant fingers and opened it to read the message inside.

_After meeting you last night, I'm brushing up on my lessons. _

_-E _

"Oh my," I murmured, playing a fingertip over a teeny, buttery soft petal. I stared down at the graceful, loopy cursive and wondered how hard it had been for him to leave off the word 'riding.' But he had sent them to me at work, knowing others might see the card, and had been crafty enough to imply without being crass. The effort raised him in my esteem more than the flowers.

Lessons indeed.

Dawn came back into the room and set the lemons on the bar.

"What in the world did you say to Sam, Sookie? He looks like someone just kicked him in his shit." Serves him right, I thought.

"Nothing. He's just mad 'cause I told him I might be needing some schedule changes." And if he kept it up, I just might be juggling his hours around Eric's.

Then Dawn took notice of my daisies.

"Well, aren't those sweet. Someone sent you flowers, Sookie?"

"Yeah. Eric did," I said, feeling all befuddled.

"He's never sent me flowers," she said, miffed, and I was more than happy to hear it.

"Well, they're a thank you, I guess. For helping out last night."

"Oh, I gave him more than help," she said snottily. "A lot more."

Once again, I got a flash of pillaging Viking, and my face went hot. She laughed cattily at that, and I almost gave them to her to spite them both.

Almost.

I set the flowers down gently at the far end of the bar, where I could see them while I worked, but where they wouldn't be in anybody's way. I tucked the card into the white blossoms, ran my finger over it once more than I probably should have. Eric was something. Blackmailing me, seducing me, hiring me, teasing me. What was I gonna do with the man? I didn't know, but one thing was for sure I thought as I watched Dawn walk by swinging her hips.

Eric and I were gonna have some serious words.

* * *

And so the seduction begins... Eric knows what he wants, and with no pesky Bill to get in the way, he can go for it... This story was always intended to be a rewrite of the first SSN, so the parallels will def be there plot wise. The next couple of chapters we'll feel our way into that, but as I am a huge Sooric fan, that's where the focus will remain. As for Sookie, I always felt she lost a lot of her confidence because of how Bill treated her. But Eric shores her up, makes her feel like she's special. Hopefully that will come through in my version of events...

Send me some reviewing love!


	6. Chapter 6

**6- What's Meant to be Heard Ain't Always Said**

Eric Northman was waiting in my driveway when I got home late from my shift.

I took notice of his moonlit handsomeness and tried to feel something other than exhaustion. My early morning happy had faded under the news of Maudette Pickens' death. I had gone to high school with Maudette, and while I wasn't close to her, I knew enough of her to feel pain at her loss. I had spent most of the day struggling during the biggest rush Merlotte's had seen since New Year's, and on three hours sleep it had not been a pleasant experience. It seemed everyone in Renard Parish had popped in the bar buzzing with the story, from mouths to minds; strangulation, I'd heard from one gleeful brain too many.

So I sat in of my car, weary for the impending encounter, trying to catch my body up with the facts. I stared stupidly at Eric, wondering how it was I was being courted by a suped-up version of every teenage girl's dream at 25. Fantasy flowers. Check. Fantasy car. Check. Fantasy vampire. Better double check.

Yeah, he really was that gorgeous. And from the looks of it, he really wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

I sighed, pushed open my door and got out to greet him.

He shoved off his car with a thick paper packet under his left arm and stalked lazily towards me. Six-feet-plus of Viking man flesh all intent on pillaging little ol' me senseless. Memories of last night's kisses clashed with memories of Dawn's bedroom tussle clashed with visions of him stretched out on the Corvette in the bright moonlight. Fortunately, I was too tired to go there…

_Pale, pumping- _

No, seriously…

_-rear side sculpture- _

…That will be quite enough of that, thank you kindly!

Eric came up on me while I was struggling with my overactive imagination, blue eyes glinting like he knew. Which he probably did.

I decided to ignore us both.

"Mr. Northman," I politely intoned.

"Miss Stackhouse," he politely mimicked.

"Did Gran…" I trailed off as I glanced at the house.

"Your grandmother has not come out yet, no. I do not think she heard me."

There was a question in his eyes I'd been asking myself a lot recently. And if Gran hadn't heard his Corvette… I lifted my chin high, and glanced at the monstrously thick packet under his arm.

"Well, I guess it's good y'all offer such good insurance, right?"

"Certainly," he said smoothly, blue eyes shining with innocent intent. Yeah, I get it Mr. Northman. From now on you're a Nike operator: Just Do It.

"I got your flowers," I said. I glanced back at where they cheerfully engulfed my passenger seat, feeling a bit awkward for the motion.

"Did you?" His pale skin glowed under the growing moon, his blue eyes twinkled wickedly with inappropriate humor.

"Yes, I-" I cleared my throat. Gran may not have been outside, but I sure enough heard her voice: 'Sookie Stackhouse! Where are your manners, girl!'

"They were lovely, thank you." My shoulders drooped as I realized I really couldn't leave them in the car overnight. My aching feet were screaming at the very idea of one extra step, but it was going to be hot tomorrow, and I didn't want my daisies wilting.

Eric seemed to anticipate my need.

"Allow me," he smoothly intoned. Before I could protest, he flashed to my car and pulled open the door. But once he had it open and his face angled downwards, he stilled to death and stared.

"Eric?" I said, poor feet forgotten as I hurried over to see what was wrong.

He was peering down at my passenger seat with the queerest expression.

"You… strapped in the flowers," he said slowly, staring at my daisies like they'd morphed into crazy alien babies or something.

"Well, sure," I said, squirming a bit. "I didn't want nothing happening to them."

"That was… thoughtful," he said, shifting his unfathomable eyes from the daisies to me. Not for the first time, I wished I could hear his thoughts.

"Well, not as thoughtful as 'turn-of-the-century Baccarat,'" I muttered, and he was suddenly grinning like a five-year-old on a holiday. My breath caught at the sight. Oh, my. Had I thought monster Eric a threat? Surely boyish Eric was much, much more dangerous.

"I wasn't sure I wanted you to catch that or not," he admitted as he unstrapped my daisies and set them into my outstretched arms.

"Yes, well…" I cleared my throat, unsure whether I wanted him to know how I'd found out, or not. If the flower girl hadn't said something, the vase might have ended up with my hair bobs in it or something.

"…Antiques Road Show," I finished weakly.

"Ah, yes," Eric said with a satisfied nod as he arranged my flowers in my arms. I kept a firm grip on the vase.

"Pamela and I watch this show often. We have collected much over the years, and every now and again it is fun to reminisce. The show is very interesting, but overall my knowledge is more reliable."

"I'll just bet," I smirked.

"Mr. Northman!" my Gran called then from the porch, and I jumped hard enough to splash water up the edges of the vase. It seemed our arrival had been noted.

"You come up here and give me a howdy, now!"

Eric's eyebrows shot up his forehead, and I shrugged. What Gran wants, Gran usually gets. He turned sly at that response. Uh oh.

"Eric-" I warned, but as soon as I'd sounded out the 'c,' he was on the porch post-vampire super speed, hamming it up with my Gran.

"Mrs. Stackhouse, it is a pleasure," he said with mischievous goodwill. Somehow, despite his ageless face, Eric was managing to come across as a bawdy-yet-harmless old coot. When he took her hand gallantly and pressed his charming leer to her age-spotted knuckles, my onetime regal Gran giggled like a kindergartner on a sugar high. I stared at the both of them and tried to figure where my once predictable life had fled to.

Maybe I could follow it there and we could woefully reminisce over gin and tonics.

"Well, now, really…" she gushed, patting away at her gray coif.

Maybe Eric's kisses were laced with something.

"And might I say, my dear lady, you have done a marvelous job raising Sookie. I will be proud to call her mine."

My eyes narrowed at his sneaky phrasing, but my surely intoxicated Gran let it slip right over her head.

"Oh, well, now, she's really such a good girl, she practically raised herself."

"I'm sure that's just not true."

"Well, maybe not _entirely_…" she preened.

I was seriously considering tossing my daisies right at Eric's craftily courteous face. I played softball for years, after all, and I've got a wicked pitch…

"Come on now, Sookie!" hollered my Gran as I was struggling to remember what manners were. "I'll sit with Mr. Northman while you settle your flowers and get changed up!"

"Oh, Eric, please."

"Then it's Adele to you, Eric. After all, we're near family now, what with your progeny changing Hadley and all."

"Why, have you been reading up on us, Adele? So many humans don't think to bother…"

Maybe just the vase. If I moved a half a foot to the right, and if Gran took just two steps back from the deliciously devious Viking…

"Sookie!" Gran hollered again as she turned to head inside. Quick as a blink, Eric had the door open and was gently lifting her over the threshold.

Okay, so maybe I'd spare the Baccarat, after all.

Still, I was muttering as I followed them up, trying to make out the freshly swept steps over my mad daisy meadow, surely sounding like the crazy Sookie everyone whispered I was. I came in the kitchen just as my body-snatched Gran was nuking the treacherous Eric Northman a bottle of True Blood.

"Oh, look at those," she flustered when I came in proceeded by the armload of daisies. "Those are just lovely, Eric."

"I am glad you both like them." He fixed me with suddenly intense eyes. "As they are only the beginning."

Gran clucked cheerfully at that, and Eric flashed back to cheeky charm. My baffled gaze bounced between them. What was I supposed to think of any of this?

"Well go on and get changed, Sookie," Gran shooed. "We don't want to keep Eric waiting all night."

"For you dear ladies, I certainly would wait all night," he lilted, giving me a trickster's wink. Gran laughed girlishly at that, and he grinned until I could practically see his molars.

I had to grit my own on my way out of the room.

In my bedroom, I was careful enough putting the flowers on my dresser for the, uh, vase's sake, but I slammed around getting changed.

So Eric Northman thought he was sooooooo special, did he? What with cooing girls all over him like lusty lambs to slaughter, and reducing ordinarily reasonable Grans into schoolgirl hysterics, and pumping perfectly sculpted buttocks up and down, up and down, up- and do NOT go there Sookie!

I gripped the edge of my dresser, because, let's face it: I needed to have a grip on something. When I'd calmed down enough, I pulled it open and yanked out shorts and a t-shirt. The shorts were well worn, stretchy and gray. The t-shirt pictured a cat clinging rather desperately to a branch with one paw; it was a blue that matched my eyes, and the script above the cat's head read "This is just not my day." I went into the bathroom and scrubbed my teeth and my face, because after all day at Merlotte's I felt like a grease bucket. My hair I left in my work ponytail.

I came back into the kitchen on a sullen flounce. Eric's lips twitched when he saw my t-shirt, and Gran gave me a critical eye, but neither of them said anything. I guess wisdom really does come with age.

"Sookie," Eric said, saluting me with his half empty True Blood. He looked pinker already.

"I was just telling Adele about some of my memories of Gladiatorial combat. The night events, of course."

"Of course," Gran giggled, looking downright giddy. 'Cause nothing lightens a friendly visit like stories of desperate men getting mauled by starving beasts to the roar of bloodthirsty crowds.

For the second time that day, my eyes drifted closed in silent prayer.

When I opened them again, Eric was trying desperately not to laugh, and Gran was studying me with concern.

"You alright, Sookie?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm just fine, Gran," I said, sweet as her pecan pie, and Eric had to turn away and lose himself in his bottle.

"Well then, I hope you young folks'll excuse me a moment," Gran said apologetically and entirely towards Eric.

"Not so very young," he leered back, and she flushed to violet. Her arthritic hips were downright perky as she left the room.

My jaw dropped, and I turned on Eric as soon as she was out of sight.

"Did you do that glamour thing on my Gran?" I hissed, propping my furious hands on my hips so I wouldn't take a swing at him.

"No," he said mildly, leaning back in the kitchen chair as he took a swig of True Blood.

"I normally don't have to," he added at my expression of disbelief.

"Well I have never seen in my 25 years seen her act like that!"

"Even so…" He waved a showcase hand over his admittedly spectacular form.

"This is all Eric, darlin'," he drawled.

"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered, and his blue eyes darkened to nighttime skies. "What I want from you definitely is not kid friendly-"

I snorted at that.

"-but aside from that… I find that I am rather fond of your Gran," he said, entirely serious now. "She is curious about my kind, and… she actually thanked me for saving Hadley. 'You lifted her from a world of greater darkness,' she said." He seemed rather bewildered by that.

"I would not disrespect such a woman as that, and certainly not in her own home."

I searched his grave face for any sign of falsehood, but if that was a lie, it was surely the best one I'd ever heard. My temper collapsed into a vague sense of embarrassment. Maybe I wasn't the only one Eric made senseless.

"Alrighty then," I consented with a brisk nod that sent my ponytail flying all around my head.

Gran slipped back into the room not a moment after, and Eric positively beamed at her.

"You want some more blood there, Eric?" Gran warmly offered.

"I'm just fine, Adele, thank you," Eric kindly replied.

He finished his blood with a practiced gulp, then walked to the sink to rinse the bottle. He patted Gran on the shoulder as he passed into our laundry room to put it in recycling, as if we did this every night of our lives.

Well this was surely the strangest night of my life.

"Now, Sookie, as to our business…" he said as he stretched back out in his chair. When he turned to me, it was with a clinical expression. Just like that he had switched on the Wall Street juice.

"Your cell phone is on order with Fed-Ex. It should arrive sometime tomorrow morning. There is a list of numbers inside this packet, including mine, Pam's and Hadley's, along with your first year contract and necessary employee forms."

Eric had set the paperwork on the table while I was changing, and he placed a palm on it now. It was one of those oversized off-yellow envelopes, and Eric's big hand practically swallowed it up. I had a lusty moment where I wondered if he'd been blessed with a matching set.

For the third time that day, I closed my eyes in a silent prayer for strength.

When I opened them, Eric was watching me carefully.

"You are tired," he observed.

"Not so much now," I admitted, surprised to find it was true. "And I've got a late shift tomorrow, so I can sleep in."

"Regardless, these matters can wait until your mind is more rested. But if you grab a sweater, we can go for a ride," he suggested, turning the full watt influence of his big blue eyes on me. I glanced out the window at his topless Corvette, then back to his willfully hopeful face.

"You go on, Sookie," my Gran conspired from the sink, and I perked up. So she wasn't entirely deaf, then…

"Alright," I said with only partial reluctance. Like it would be a hardship to ride in the moonlight with a gorgeous vamp. The other more complicated stuff… I took in Eric's fallen angel face, and squared my shoulders. I was a big girl, wasn't I?

Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Sook.

"I'll be right back."

I hurried up and grabbed a sweater jacket that was hanging off a hook on my bedroom door. I took a moment to spray on a splash of the perfume I'd worn the first night Eric and I had met. Obsession, the bottle read. More'n likely the other way around, I thought with a sniff, before heading back down.

When I reentered the kitchen, it was to the strange sight of Eric and my Gran facing off like they were about to take steps at a square dance.

"Adele," Eric graveled, folding his tall self over in a roguish bow.

"Eric," she lilted back, pulling out her apron and giving him a saucy half curtsey.

"Until next time, then, fair lady," he said with a wistful edge. Then, to my utter shock, he leaned down and gave her forehead a tender kiss. And Adele Stackhouse, practical Gran extraordinaire, melted against the stove and batted her antique eyelashes right up at the big ol' ancient Viking.

Maybe if I bashed my head on his Corvette hard enough, this night would start to make sense.

Eric grabbed my stunned elbow on the way out, and I rubber necked all the way out the door trying to keep an eye on her scarlet face.

"That really just happened," I managed when the night air hit my face.

"It did," Eric agreed pleasantly.

"You're like… You're like…" I sputtered. Even my Word of the Day calendar didn't have an adjective that fit.

"I'm like…?" he prodded as he led me down off the porch.

"Like catnip for women!"

He considered this a moment, lighting up when the analogy hit.

"Why yes! That is accurate enough, I suppose." Suppose nothing. He was practically peacocking at the thought.

"You're gonna give my Gran a heart attack," I muttered.

"Nonsense," he scoffed. "If her heartbeat had gone the least bit irregular under my attentions, I would have heard it. Just because Adele is older does not mean she has ceased to be a woman."

So not going there.

"Okay then," I said rather weakly. "A ride you say?"

His long arms wrapped around my waist at that, pulling me tight to his torso. It was an odd position, not loose enough for kissing, but definitely more than a little intimate.

"Whaf if thif?" I muffled suspiciously into his shirt.

"This, my dear Ms. Stackhouse, is magick," he said as I struggled not to inhale the wonderfully scented fabric of his shirt. Magick or not, I needed to breath. Air. I yanked my face back enough to glare at his Adam's apple.

"Uh huh. You just remember my Gran could be watching," I hedged. Gran was in the house somewhere, but I knew she was too polite to watch us. Besides the manners of the issue, she was pleased as punch she had another male besides Jason to dote on. And to dote on her.

I sighed loudly.

"You must wrap your arms around me," he said in such a factual voice that I stupidly complied.

It took a few seconds to realize we were no longer on the ground. When I did, my grip shifted from petulant to possessed.

"I thought you said we were going for a ride!" Was I shrieking? Surely I wasn't shrieking.

The wind was beginning to blow by more and more briskly. It reminded me of riding a rollercoaster at the fair, except the air flow was constant rather than stop and go. I took a quick peek at the ground and discovered trees flashing by at what was surely an illegal rate. Could vampires get tickets for speeding, I wondered?

"We are on a ride, or perhaps I should say _you_ are riding _me_." I was beginning to regret my horse analogy rather desperately.

"I took that to mean we'd be riding in your _car_."

"Why would you think that?"

"'Cause that's what ordinary dates do! Take drives, neck at the movies. You know, ordinary stuff!"

"Sookie," he said gently into the shell of my ear. "Neither one of us is ordinary."

"Don't I just know it," I muttered as his long arms wrapped tighter around my waist.

"I mean only to show you the wondrous side of our world," he said a few minutes later, in an almost apologetic tone. Almost.

Still, what could I even say to that? I reluctantly relaxed into his steel and supple embrace.

"But as to the necking…"

His cool lips pressed a hot promise to my jugular, and I made a sound not unlike a mouse in a trap. He laughed, and as I swatted at him I felt the ground become solid beneath my feet. I looked up from his chest in surprise.

"It was your first time. I didn't want to take you too far." My suspicious eyes snapped to his face, but he looked deadly serious.

Why was it that Eric Northman could make the most harmless phrase sound perverse, but the dirtiest of phrases sound sincere? Was this some sort of special vamp power, or had he brought it over from his human days? Wasn't he just the strangest of puzzles? And now, as I studied his earnest expression, I realized he was one I couldn't walk away from without solving.

I sighed and turned my head to look around at our surroundings. It took me a moment to recognize the landscape, as I'd never seen it under moonlight before. I'd been here a handful of times, as it was one of Jason's old fishing haunts. Normally it was a wild enough spot to require daylight visits, but I guess gators and cats weren't really a problem given my current company.

We were standing on a sturdy bit of old dock, situated in a bayou about five miles from my house. The listing trees dripped ethereal fingers of Spanish moss, the sluggish nighttime waters were a greenish black lightened by the occasional glint of an ambitious reptile. The thick air smelled like salt-rolled dead things, not so much in denial of the inevitable, but more as an effort to maintain their wildness until the very end. Above it all, the fat moon glowed like a mysterious sun, casting stark shadows over the surreal landscape.

I glanced from this dark fairytale to a blissfully faced Eric, and suddenly understood that he was doing his best to build a bridge for me. A beautiful bridge. How many times had I bothered to search out such scenes without Jason dragging my reluctant self along? Never, I realized. Engrossed in the light of day, I'd missed this whole magick world. Our world, now, I ruefully acknowledged.

"The air smells wild here," Eric said, sighing wistfully as he mimicked my earlier thought. "It is such a rare thing, in these modern days. It strangely reminds of my human days by the North Sea. It is one of the reasons I came to settle here."

He turned to gaze at me with those riptide eyes of his.

"Standing here in the moonlight, you look like I plucked off your wings and stole you away to a land of nightmares." I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I didn't say anything at all.

He came closer, and I tilted my wary head to look up at him. We were on dangerous ground here.

"It's just wonderful, Eric," I said softly. "Even better than the daisies." He gave a wry smile.

"The flowers were easy enough. But you… you are not an easy woman, Miss Stackhouse."

I smiled nervously at that. Once again, Eric sounded like he was saying something entirely more serious than what the phrase should have implied.

"Well, you chose well. It was definitely worth the crazy flight." His wide blue eyes crinkled happily, his full lips quirked at the edges.

"So surprised, Miss Stackhouse," he teased, and I flushed.

"Well, no… Okay, maybe a little. How'd you find this place?"

"Oh, I've flown around this area a bit," he said, sounding as innocent as a choirboy. Right.

My eyes narrowed on a stray thought.

"Hey, were you at my bedroom window early this morning?" There was a momentary pause.

"Eric…"

"Only to be certain that you arrived home safely. It was only for a moment," he added at my incredulous expression.

"Well, that's just…" Creepy? Thoughtful? Heck-if-I-Know?

"Just don't do it anymore, 'kay?"

He stayed silent.

"Eric!" I scolded. "Answer me!"

"I am trying to decide whether or not to lie to you. I am finding it harder than it should be, especially considering that it will be mostly for your own good."

He peered down at me, intensely curious.

"What do you think this means, Sookie Stackhouse?"

"Um… You're growing as a person?" I said with my nerviest of smiles, and he threw his beautiful head back and laughed and laughed and laughed under the moon. His skin glowed furiously, brighter than any candle we could have lit, and I felt drawn to him like a self aware moth.

When he finally stopped he fixed on me with that dangerous, boyish good cheer.

"I needed this," he said, looking surprised at the statement. He took a moment to consider it, then nodded.

"I needed to be here tonight, surrounded by what remains of lighter times," he said, cupping the side of my face with his big hand. I sank into the touch, into the raw blue of his eyes.

"I needed to share it with you," he finished simply, and I melted into Sookie pudding.

"Eric," I whispered, lifting on my toes to offer us both a taste.

This was nothing like our first kiss. This was whispers and silk, this was the softness of familiar passion. He murmured something unidentifiable against my mouth, slid a patient tongue from the corner of my lips inward. I opened on a sigh, because how could I not? Eric needed me in this moment. The thousand year old killer needed little ol' Sookie Stackhouse for a taste of the light, and I needed him to show me what sharing feels like.

We needed each other.

We drifted together to a soundtrack of bayou nighttime, until finally Eric pulled back and stared down at me with glittering blue eyes. His fangs were noticeably absent, and I wondered at that.

"You are a dangerous woman, Miss Stackhouse," he said, repeating his words from the night before. This time, at least, it didn't sound as much like an accusation.

"I'm sure you're off about that, Mr. Northman," I said, sounding more than a little daft. My, he sure was handsome!

"No," he said firmly, eyes flitting down to my tender mouth. "You are definitely dangerous."

Okay, so on to easier ground. I did a little spin, tugged his hands around my waist.

"So, um, how come I felt so light when we were flying? Like there was no gravity 'round us?"

"I've considered it often enough over the years. I believe it has to do with my energy, that it creates an enveloping field as I fly about. So what I hold, it is light as I am. Not all of our kind can do it," he added smugly.

"So theoretically we could… you know."

"No," he said wistfully. "I tried that when I was three hundred and nearly dropped my lover into the Baltic Sea."

I had to stare out at the bayou for a few moments while I processed this.

"I guess after a thousand years I'd be hard pressed to find anything you haven't tried," I said eventually, sounding sullen even to myself.

"Yes," he agreed. "But after a thousand years, as you say, I have also learned that sex is but a constant accomplice in the pursuit of true pleasure."

"Is that a fancy way of saying sex doesn't really matter?" I scoffed.

"No," he said with a grin. "Sex definitely matters, as you'll soon enough learn."

"Eric…"

"But sex alone is like dining on water. While it may fill you up, you get nothing of substance from it."

"Uh huh," I murmured. "So what substances of mine are you so drawn to? You know, besides the blood?"

"Your devoted nature," he said immediately. "Your wary curiosity. Your practical compassion. Your scent." He shoved his head into the crease of my neck and shoulder and sucked up air like he'd been starved for it.

"Do you recycle pickup lines, too?" I said rather snottily. I regretted it instantly.

"That was a nasty insult to us both, Sookie," Eric said, pulling back from me with an expression of almost paternal disappointment.

I think I'd have preferred a snarl.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. You just…." Swallow your pride, Stackhouse. "Well you unnerve me, alright?"

That confession seemed to have been penance enough. Eric leaned in on that fractional distance he seemed to love so much, the tease-but-don't-touch that was about to drive me mad.

"I'd rather undress you." I swatted at him.

"Just 'cause I kiss you doesn't mean you've got permission to ruin it with a mouthful of dirt." Eric laughed like the madman I was beginning to believe he was.

"Oh, my Sookie," he said with red rimmed eyes, when he'd found his tongue again. "I do believe I'm mad about you."

"Obviously mad, you mean," I said with a cheerful sniff.

"And since it is currently only a one way affliction… Why, I must simply pay-it-forward… Is that not what you humans say?"

"Yes, but Eric…" I protested weakly as his lips closed the distance with slow motion passion.

"All you need do is command me to stop…" he breathed along my lower lip.

Alrighty then.

I grabbed his face and yanked him towards me, and he came laughing into the kiss. I was surely as wild as his memories, standing on that dock, and he matched it all with good humored passion. He let me take the reigns, he let me sink us deeper, he let me drag us into madness. As my fingers raked at his loose hair, his other hand came up and anchored me by my ponytail. As my hips ground rhythmically against his, he picked up the beat and ground right back. And when my teeth sank into his bottom lip, when I felt his fangs explode like soda tabs on shook up pop, he jerked back just enough not to pierce me. This was my walk on the dark side, after all.

I'm not sure when we lost control, but sure enough we both did. When his big hands hit the snaps on my bra, I realized I was clinging to him for every moment of denied happiness I'd ever felt, and he was eating his way down my throat like, well, a vampire. And unless I planned on experiencing a double dose of bloody firsts in a swamp, I needed to end this quick.

"Eric," I breathed.

There was no response.

"Eric, Eric! You have to stop now."

He growled his denial into my neck and I pressed a trembling hand to his cool face. He yanked back as I applied gentle pressure, glaring down at me with murderous frustration.

I wondered that even now I felt no fear in his presence.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm hungry for you, too," I said gently, and he twitched. "I'm hungry for you in ways I never thought I could be." He twitched even harder at that.

Maybe I just shouldn't talk.

I studied his glowing, savagely handsome face in the moonlight. His blue eyes were dangerous slits, and his lips were pulled so tightly closed over his mouth I could see the outline of his fangs through his skin. Control, I realized. He was fighting for it as passionately as I'd ever seen anyone fight for anything, and I realized he was fighting for my safety, as well. No one knew we were here, and it would be easy enough to glamour Gran if I ended up dead. Strangely enough, that thought made me feel warmer towards him. I took a deep breath and reopened my mouth.

"Okay, Eric, look… If we're gonna be hungry for each other like this, that's it. I'm not gonna do halfways."

"But you are saying yes?" At that moment he looked about as desperate as a thousand year old killer possibly can. "You are saying you will be my… lover?"  
"I'm saying it seems we're headed that way." He leaned in to me and I slapped a hand to his stone chest. "If you can prove you're serious 'bout all this."

"I am as serious as the True Death about you, Sookie Stackhouse." His blue eyes were jewels of devotion, his pale skin pulsed with his intended commitment. Oh Lordy.

"Jeez," I muttered. "Don't go making it sound all ominous. I'm just asking for a little time, a little proof."

"Proof?" He scowled at that and pulled back to a stranger's distance.

I stared at his hunched shoulders, bewildered and frustrated. Did he not understand this was my one-time gift we were discussing here? Not to mention my miracle for even being able to discuss it in the presence of other, rarer gifts?

"Well, you can hardly expect me to just jump in the hay with you after less than a week! I mean come on, Eric! You've got a thousand years on me! What have I got that'll compete with that?"

"More than you know, foolish girl." His voice was hard with derision.

Nope. Not having it. I jabbed him in the chest hard enough to injure my index finger. I pulled it back to my chest and nursed it along with my glare. He glared right back.

"See! That right there! 'Foolish girl,'" I mocked. "What in the world am I supposed to do with you when you say stuff like that?" He grinned hideously, and I was, uh, relieved to see his fangs were put away.

"Oh, I could think of a thing or two to haunt your lily white dreams."

"You're not scary," I sassed, suffocating an urge to check my lower parts on the lie. I mean, do pants really catch on fire? Do noses really grow? I had to wonder. After all, this was a crazy world I was getting into.

"Oh, believe me, Ms. Stackhouse. This is my lightest of hands."

"Well, I'm not ready for any of your hands yet," I mouthed back, wondering at my audacity. Where was this coming from? Who was this verbally liberated creature? Surely not Sookie Stackhouse, virgin telepathic barmaid.

We stared at each other for the darkest of moments, and then something very strange happened: I got a taste of Eric's thoughts.

He was thinking I was a rare creature, and that a thousand years didn't do a thing to lessen the sweetness of a bouquet's notes. He was thinking I was going to frustrate the nightlife out of him before we were through. He was thinking the only other time he felt so alive was when he was killing.

He was thinking I might be worth everything.

He was thinking I might not.

I emerged from this bout of lethal knowledge to find Eric and I still eye locked. He was staring at me like he was about to ask where I'd gone on vacation, and my lips jerked up in my default, kooky smile. Usually it works like a charm, but it was totally out of place for the moment.

Crap.

"Let's not fight, alrighty?" I deflected sweetly, drawing on every bit of Southern Charm in my arsenal. "It's so pretty out here, and we might as well enjoy it." Eric looked anything but convinced.

But he looked away first.

Well, I thought, inhaling the marshy scents of bayou as I tried to process. Well well well… So Eric was a killer. I'd already known that. One of my favorite co-workers, Terry Bellefluer, was a killer, too, and he sure hadn't come out of Vietnam as rational minded as Eric. Sometimes life called for death, and Lord knew Eric had lived long enough to see it necessary. As for the rest of it…

Wasn't I sitting here thinking thoughts just the same? Wasn't I wondering if he was worth all the risks he presented? I could hardly be mad at him for his thoughts, after all. And I could hardly admit that I'd heard them. I thought back to his monstrous face in his car the night we'd met, how scary he'd gotten when he'd thought I could do just that. Nope, Eric Northman wouldn't be learning that from me any time ever.

So we sat there together awhile, thinking our taboo thoughts as we stared out at the life and death of the bayou. As we followed the curving swoop of a patient hawk as it hunted for foolish prey. As a pebble-skinned gator snapped hungrily through the murky depths. As an angry squirrel chattered its way through the listing tree tops.

As my moonlit vampire considered the consequences of losing it over a stubborn telepathic girl.

"Time for bed, then, little girl," he drawled finally, and it was all I could do not to slap his sullen, fallen angel face.

While I was considering this appalling bit of violence, he snatched me up in his arms quick as you please and shoved my face into the curve of his arm. The sky whirred by faster coming than going, but really I couldn't tell you on sight. All I got visually on the trip back was the under crease of Eric's delicious smelling armpit.

You are one strange girl, Sookie Stackhouse.

Still, I couldn't work up any real anger for the treatment. Because… despite the fact that I knew he was still pissed, despite the fact he'd moved us with inhuman speeds to dump me off for the evening, despite the fact we'd had a verbal smack down, one thing was obvious: there was gentleness in Eric's touch.

And when his hand brushed tenderly over the crown of my head mid-flight, I thought that if he were to ask, I might just be ready for his hands, after all. 

* * *

I was going to try and publish just a couple of chapters a day on this story, but I'm having trouble sticking to that schedule... I'm sure none of of you mind... :) Review and let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

**7- Truth and Consciousness**

When full consciousness hit me the next morning, I groaned into my pillow.

Had I really thought Eric Northman was laying the whammy on my Gran?

Had I really gone on a gravity defying midnight ride with him?

Had I really almost sucked his troublesome tongue down to my seeking toes?

Had I really told him it was all Sookie or no way?

Yup, I recalled as I attempted to suffocate my scarlet face in sun-dried linen. I sure enough had.

This, I decided as I pouted around my room looking for my slippers, was what happened when desperate virgins allowed themselves to be seduced by bizarrely courteous thousand-year-old sexpots. I banged my head on the underside of my bed just as I was coming up with that halfway truth.

Real truth be told, it wasn't Eric I was unsure of. His thoughts spoke plain enough that he was serious about his intentions. Nope, I was the jittery one. I was so used to sorting out my feelings on folks based on what I saw in their heads, that I wasn't sure I trusted my own judgment where he was concerned. But I wanted to.

Lordy, how I wanted to.

"Good morning Sookie!" Gran said cheerily as I slunk into the kitchen.  
"Morning, Gran," I muttered as she poured me a tall glass of pulpy juice.

"Eric was kind enough to have another batch of flowers sent 'round. For me!" she said, lifting a wrinkly hand and pressing it to her flushed cheek.

And there they were, black-eyed Susan's arranged pretty as you please in tall, thin candy blue glass with sunlight spilling over their cheerful petals. Gran had set them in the center of our kitchen table, proudly propping up the little silver note at their base. It truly was a happy sight, and I found my grouch fading under the sheer joy of her excitement.

"And then I got a call from Everlee Mason right after they showed up, asking me if I had a secret beau. Apparently, someone called her up early this morning asking after my favorites!"

She plucked the card off the table and offered it to me with shining eyes.

"And the loveliest card, too!"

I took it from her with a nervous smile.

As I opened the silver embossed card, I wondered: Had Gran really been feeling so lonely as all that? What had Eric Northman's stranger eyes picked up that mine had missed?

The words inside were even prettier than the flowers.

_Adele,_

_The darkness brightens under your rarest of lights._

_Warmest regards,_

_Eric_

I looked up from his loopy cursive, and sure enough, my Gran glowed.

"So you like him, then?" I hesitated. "You don't think this is all … a little much?"

"What? Some flowers?" she scoffed.

"And the cell phone and the job." And the melt-your-socks kisses and the wingless flying and the super intense vampire thoughts.

Just call me provincial Sookie.

"The job is a job, and the cell phone is for working it," she said firmly.

"Aside from that, it's plain to see the man wants you." I bit my tongue at the word man. "But it's also plain that he hits where he aims."

I frowned as I handed back the card.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, girl, that he's taking time to match what he wants with what you need."

"Well doesn't that just make him the wiliest of them all," I muttered.

"That makes him wise," she corrected, rubbing a wistful, arthritic finger over her card. "And kind despite all the killing I imagine he's done over the years. Most men would've hardened up by now."

Well his chest sure was hard enough. I flashed back to the first night I'd seen him, sitting up on his platform in Fangtasia, at how the fluorescent lighting had glinted off those fantasy abs… Or how it felt being pressed up against them as we dashed across the parking lot… Or being cradled to them as he flew us to a midnight bayou…

I dropped my chin into my palm and sighed loudly.

Speaking of wily… Gran was currently giving me the eye over a fresh cup of coffee. I lifted it and took several innocent sips before I finally gave her what she wanted.

"Oh, alright! I want him, too."

"And about time," she sniffed, and I gave her an incredulous look.

"Are you sure Eric didn't glamour you?" I drawled, and Gran gave me a pained look.

"Sookie, really. He would never do such a thing to me here."

I gave her a skeptical eye. At least she hadn't said he wouldn't do such a thing to her at all. But then again, Gran always had been a realist.

"Seriously, Sookie. A man like that, a man that's lived a thousand years, he's got honor. Maybe not rules, per say-" she added at my snort. "But he sure 'nough has honor."

"Gran, you met him for like an hour."

"You live long enough, it doesn't take but five minutes."

This was like the tag team of the century, was what it was. Still, I was feeling more charitable as I watched Gran re-set her note, shifting it this way and that until she got it where she liked it. All things considered, I had to admit Eric Northman had a way about him. But was he going to have his way with Sookie Stackhouse? That was certainly the question of the hour.

I drank my juice, ate a bagel and a plate of eggs Gran had whipped up before I spoke again.

"Gran?"

"Hmm?"

"You think I would be being as difficult if Eric was, um, human?"

"I think," she said carefully, after a long minute, "you've got your reasons for dodging men that ain't got nothing to do with their teeth and everything to do with their bites."

I started grinning crazily at that. My hands started shaking, my heart started to race. This was as close as we'd gotten in years to talking about We Don't Speak of Him.

"Gran, we don't-"

"Yes we do," she said firmly. "'Cause there's been times when I listened to my head when my heart was hollering at me to wise up! And I think, maybe here's the real damage." My lips jerked as she took my trembling hand and gave it a shaky squeeze.

These words were not easy coming or going.

"Sookie, you have to know… Bartlett was always so very careful when I was around, so very proper and considerate. Like them snakes on Discovery Channel with the prettiest stripes. And all the while hurting my girls…" She trailed off, and swallowed like she was choking to death.

"You stopped him Gran," I said softly, trying to block memories of Uncle Bartlett's dark thoughts and dirty hands. "That's all that matters."

"I'd like to have killed him," my sweet old Gran muttered, and I didn't say anything 'cause I'd still have liked to.

"But I supposed that wouldn't have been Christian."

Did wanting to kill him make me a poor Christian then? I've thought that if I ever have to face violence I won't just lay down and take it. But I also know that if I ever again have to face what my Uncle Bartlett did to me, I won't lay down and take it either. I guess that makes me a survivalist first, and a Christian second, but I have faith that God is the forgiving sort.

We both took a moment to mourn our losses.

"Now, your Mr. Northman-"

"Really, Gran, he's not-"

"You think I don't see that boy's devilish, hmm? I'm old, not daft, girl." Her eyes gleamed. "He wears sex like perfume, that one does-"

I made a noise like dying on hearing this.

"-But he's there to see, ain't he? One color, through and through."

I stared at her with my nervous lips and thought furiously. What had Eric said the night I had met him? 'Judge me by what you see…' Could it really be that simple? Was I really gonna make it this complicated? Where were the words for my nerves?

"Gran…" I hesitated. "I feel like he's gonna swallow me up. Like even when he's telling me I'm the one calling the shots, it's only 'cause he says so."

She nodded thoughtfully at that.

"I'd say if Eric's gonna have a flaw, it'll be that he forgets you need breathing-"

My eyebrows shot skyward, and she had to purse her lips before finishing.

"-but if that's hard for you, Sookie, you just remember… You are a Stackhouse, and ground given is ground earned."

We both stiffened our spines and solemnly nodded at each other before bursting into smiles.

I got up and scraped my plate into the trash and washed it, then scratched Tina behind her ears. She purred at me like a steam engine. I kissed Gran on the cheek and she murmured something insensible over the top of her paperback. I put on my purple bikini, slathered on coconut oil and lay out on my green plastic lounger.

Just 'cause I was playing with vamps now was no reason to neglect my tan.

An hour or so later, when I was heavy eyed and hot skinned, I folded up my chair and set it neatly back in the shed. I went into through the kitchen and found a note on the counter from Gran saying she'd run to the store. And on the table next to the black-eyed Susan's, the promised Fed-Ex delivery.

Except there were two packages. One was a sturdy, mid-sized box with what I figured was my cell phone. The other was a flat, thin envelope that felt like it was filled with bubble wrap. Curious, I opened it first, unwrapping until I reached a folded note and a suspiciously shaped piece of red tissue paper.

"You better have not, Eric Northman," I muttered as I picked up the note and unfolded it. His familiar script, (and just when had that happened?) was simple and to the point.

Which is to say pointing towards complicated.

_Miss Stackhouse,_

_A shoe of little consequence and great intent._

_Yours,_

_Eric Northman_

Nervous, I pulled at the edges of the tissue paper, nearly jumping when a thin gold chain spilled out. I lifted it delicately, watching with wide-eyes as the links swayed, as the baby charm glinted brilliantly in the morning sunlight. At the very end was surely the tinniest, tiniest, gold horseshoe ever crafted by the hands of man.

Why, I believe I'll take epic seductions for a thousand, Alex.

And suddenly, I was laughing. I bent over with it, chest heaving, eyes watering, heart pumping. I pressed my forehead to the cool surface of the table, and I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, cradling that little charm to my chest. And when the laughter gave way to tears, I prayed.

I prayed God forgive my Uncle Bartlett where I could not. I prayed Maudette had found her way safely home, and that my brother Jason would settle on some nice girl. I prayed thanks for Hadley's safe return, and for Gran's happy flowers. I prayed thanks for my new job and the chance to use my strange gift, and for the better insurance it offered. I prayed thanks for my strong-willed Viking suitor, for even having a suitor at all.

Lastly, I prayed for the courage to keep up.

* * *

After my cry out session, I put on my horseshoe and unwrapped my new cell phone.

I was relieved to find that Eric had settled on a flip phone for me, rather than one of the BlackBerry things. It was a shiny, cherry red, and very thin. I flipped it open and was pleased to discover Hadley's number listed right under home. And of course, there was Eric Northman. I scrolled to his name and smiled down at it with a little smile even I wasn't too sure of. After that, I plugged in the phone to charge and hit the shower.

As I dressed, I decided to give my brain a rest on the Eric Northman front, but my fingers wouldn't stop brushing the chain under my work shirt.

I got to work 15 minutes early and was well into my prep when Sam found me.

"Hey there, Sook," he said, real cautious like.

"Hi there, Sam," I said cheerfully.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday."

I kept stirring the sweet tea with a steady hand as I replied.

"Are you sure about that, Sam? 'Cause even if I could get out, I wouldn't."

He started to say something and I shook my head.

"My family's involved," I said quietly, and he scowled.

"Jason can handle his own sh….stuff," he finished lamely when I gave a little scowl of my own.

"This ain't got nothing to do with Jason." And I sure wasn't bringing up Hadley's name until she decided that was the thing to do.

"Then who? Not your Gran." He looked gobsmacked by that possibility, and it was all I could do not to laugh in his face. If he only knew how happily Gran had been cavorting with a certain Viking vampire the night before…

"Gran's on the outfield on this one, but-" I said when I saw his relief. "-She is in the field."

Sam's face went desperate at that.

"I'm sorry if that makes you unhappy, Sam," I said as kindly as I could. "But some things just can't be undone."

He looked like I'd just knifed him in his unmentionables. His eyes were as wide as I'd ever seen him, and the air around him seemed to shimmer with intensity. I didn't know whether to take a step forward, or a step back.

"Sam…" I started, but he shook his head.

"You go on now, Sook," he growled. "I'll think on it," he added when I hesitated, and I gave him an uncertain nod.

The night took off fast enough after that. The bar crowd was still heavy after Maudette's death, and I ran my feet near to blisters trying to keep up. Rumors were flying, thoughts were whizzing, drinks were disappearing. As I was coming up to the bar for a refill I ended up on the bottom side of a conversation Dawn was having with one of our regulars, DeeAnn.

"…And personally, I just don't know how someone so boring got to die so interesting like."

"You hush now!" DeeAnn said while she tried to smother her own giggles. "Just hush!"

I lifted my eyes off the rum and coke Sam was traying up from me, and I could see the quiet acknowledgement for what I was about to do. He gave a nod as he fitted a lime slice on my glass, and I nodded back. We may not be eye to eye on the vampire issue, but here everything was perfectly clear. I turned slow motion on my heel and tapped Dawn on her slender shoulder.

"What?" she drawled in irritation when she came round to face me, but I kept my smile firmly in place. Anyone looking at us would see nothing but a happy chat.

"Dawn Green," I said very, very quietly. My tone was as ominous as grave dirt.

"You best be keeping such poisonous thoughts where they belong before Maudette ain't the only one experiencing something so interesting like."

Dawn's eyes went comically wide, and her lower lip quivered. We'd been working together long enough now that she believed I was… something. Most days she figured I was psychic, and for tonight that was just fine. I kept eyeballing her until she nodded, then turned back to my drink and quick footed it off to my table.

I made a lap on my other tables, dropped off two sweet teas and a basket of French fried pickles to Andy Bellefluer, who was thinking murder in person was a whole lot nastier than what they showed on TV. I gave Denise and Mack Ratray a stack of napkins, and when Mack starting thinking about doing unseemly things to my naked backside, I couldn't help but imagine Eric putting the smack down on him. I guess my smile must have shown some of my viciousness, 'cause Mack gave me a funny look and Denise kept glaring even as I was turning away.

I kept it up for another hour before I just couldn't take it anymore. I made sure my tables were settled and happy, then snuck off to the bathroom to dial a certain high-handed Viking. Arlene was already there having her 'I just can't take this night anymore' smoke, and I gave her shoulder a commiserating bump before I locked myself in the stall.

Once inside, I propped myself up on the toilet and scrolled to Eric's number, sneaking peeks at Arlene puffing away at the sink the whole while. I felt like I was committing grand larceny or something. I'd only had a cell phone for a day and it was already corrupting me.

Eric answered after the second ring in a voice so sensual I nearly dropped my new phone in the toilet bowl.

They really ought to warn folks about that.

"I am here."

"Look, I've never even ridden a horse-"

"I see you received your phone."

"Yeah, I did-"

"No troubles setting it up?"

"No, I'm figuring it out fine, but-"

"I had some concerns, given your old fashioned ways."

I yanked the pretty red phone away from my head and glared at it for all I was worth. I took a few crucial seconds to reign my temper in, deep breaths and the like, before I set it back to my ear.

"Thank you, Eric," I said, speaking in deliberately reasonable tones. "But I just can't keep taking stuff from you."

"I think we proved last night it is to be a mutual affair," he said just as reasonably.

"Eric, I've known you three whole days!"

"A spectacularly short time," he purred, and I banged my head into the stall door.

"Sookie?" I heard a cautious voice say. "That you in there?"

I yanked the phone from my head and shoved it to my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Arlene. Just sorting some stuff out."

"Alright, then. You just take your time. Want me to check your tables for ya?"

"Sure thing, that'd be great. I should be finished up in just a few."

I put the phone back to my ear with some relief.

"Eric?" The phone was dead silent.

"Eric!" I hissed.

"You are ashamed of me," he said finally, sounding a strange blend of sad, shocked and pissed.

"It's not that! It's just…" I trailed off, for the life of me incapable of sorting out the words even in my own head.

"It's just what?" His voice had gone dead flat, and I was suddenly very grateful I was not this creature's enemy.

"I am not man enough for you?" My temper flared at that.

"Do not put words in my mouth, Eric Northman!"

When he didn't come up with a sexual twist, I knew I was in trouble.

"Oh, God, Eric, please." I leaned my head against the cool metal of the bathroom stall.

"You have to understand I've never had any of this. I don't know what to take, what to resist." I hesitated. "What to share."

He was silent a very long time. So long in fact, and so quietly what with the vamps-not-breathing thing, I thought he might have hung up.

"Eric?" I said timidly, and to my relief he finally spoke.

"Do you wear it?" He might have been talking about the weather, but if I hadn't been I got the feeling we'd have been in for a killer's storm.

Little consequence my lily white bum.

"Of course," I scolded, fingering the bumps of the little gold chain tucked under my shirt.

"Of course," he repeated back with such derision that I rolled my eyes.

"Eric, I'm nervous, not disinterested. I told you last night, I just need some time, okay?"

I waited my own kind of breathless while he mulled this over. When he spoke again, it was with considerably more warmth.

"Even among my kind, I am very old, Sookie Stackhouse. If you require this of me, I can be patient."

I felt a wave of relief.

"But-"

I felt a wave of dread.

"-I will not be a bathroom stall secret," he said firmly.

My eyes closed in prayer. It seemed I was doing a whole lot of praying since I'd met the vamps.

"Really," I said weakly. "How good is y'all's hearing?"

There was the briefest of hesitations.

"You should tell the woman Arlene the smoking is not appropriate given her condition."

My jaw dropped. Arlene smoking on her breaks in the bathroom was kind of an open secret, but as far as I knew from my accidental mind reading, even she wasn't sure on the pregnancy yet.

"So what, you heard her smoking and-"

"-Three heartbeats," he finished smoothly.

"So she's having twins?" I squeaked.

"No," he said with great humor. "One of them was distinctively yours."

I had to think about this a minute.

"You know, it's kinda crazy how you can be so creepy and so charming both at once."

"And it is frustrating how you can be so intoxicating and so obstinate both at once."

"But I'm yours for the frustrating," I said without conscious thought.

There was a moment of dead silence while we both processed what I'd just said.

And then…

"Are you?" he asked softly, in that voice of his that always means so much more than what you're hearing.

My mouth fell open. I tried for words, closed it again, took a deep breath and nodded to myself.

Yes, I really was, I realized, as he waited patiently for my response. I really wanted to share myself with this strange creature and his thoughtful, risqué wit: the Gran charmer, the 1000 year old vampire in flip flops, the BlackBerry toting Viking, the dead sexy sheriff, the lusty-mouthed Sookie Stackhouse fan. I wanted to see his world, and I wanted to show him mine.

And on the acceptance of it, some long starved part of me sat up and cried.

"As you are mine," I softly replied.

"Well, then, my Sookie," he said in a most reasonable voice that did nothing to hide his wicked smile. "Perhaps you can tell me what you have on under your Merlotte's outfit."

My face instantly went hot.

"Really, Eric," I whispered. I could hear his office chair creak as he tilted back. "I'm at work."

"No? Perhaps we should start with me. I'm wearing-"

I heard the distinctive clatter of belt buckle, and he got no further. I immediately yanked the phone off my head and hit the end call button. I stared down at it in exasperation, swearing I could hear his laughter coming all the way from Shreveport. Really, what was the man thinking?

After a minute or two I shook my head and stuffed the phone back into my apron. I did a glance over in the mirror, adjusted my ponytail, and lifted my horseshoe charm outside my shirt. I took a second to center it on my collar, taking in my glowing reflection with a wry smile.

Then I dashed out on blissful feet to my abandoned tables.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter's full of T's… Tired Sookie, Traumatized Sookie, Trashed Sookie, Tender Sookie **

**I swear you'll end up smiling for the ride.**

* * *

**8- Bad Girl Blues**

The rest of my shift was a chain rattler, that's for sure.

Fortunately for most days, Bon Temps folks think I'm the poster girl for chastity. My newly unveiled necklace got a lot of speculative stares, but most people kept their immediate nosiness confined to their heads. Sam was keeping quiet behind the bar, hopefully doing his promised thinking. I caught his eyes a time or two on my neck more than my necklace, but at least he was trying.

It was slowing down by the time the first of the nosies spoke up. I was dropping off a pitcher of Bud to a table of Jason's work cronies, and it sure wasn't their first one. Their thoughts were buzzing happy and dull at the edges of my brain, and I gave them all a chipper smile when they slurred out their thank you's. Cab fare all around, I hoped.

I was just about to turn on my heel when Rene Lenier leaned in and peered at my neck. My brain sighed, and my smile jerked an inch higher as I braced myself.

Here we go…

"Aw what's dis then?" Rene teased, thumb and forefinger coming up to frame my horseshoe. "Sookie got a boyfriend?"

"Maybe," I said cheerfully as the whole table leaned in for a closer stare. Eric Northman was most definitely not a boy.

Arlene came up behind me then and popped her head in on the conversation, flaming curls dancing as much as her eyes.

"Oh, I heard you in the bathroom talkin,' girl. His name's Eric," she lilted, batting her eyelashes as the hoots and hollers started circling round.

"Well, yes," I said shyly. "His name's Eric Northman."

There, Eric, I thought with some perverse satisfaction. You are no longer a bathroom stall secret.

"He ain't from around here, then, eh?" Rene drawled as he lazily poured himself another beer.

As half of Bon Temps stretched their necks to overhear our words.

"No, he's out of Shreveport." 'Cause from would require an explanation I didn't have the guts for at the moment. "He runs a business there."

"Eh, top notch for our cher here, eh? 'Bought time, that is," he grinned, and I laughed painfully.

Really, was everyone thinking I was that much of a charity case? It probably wouldn't even surprise them when they found out Eric was a vampire, all things considered. I could practically hear the mockery now. 'Shoot, that's just crazy Sookie. No man would take her on, so she had to go digging through grave dirt!'

I wasn't the only one having such dark thoughts. Dawn was seething at hearing Eric's name wildfire about in connection with mine, but after my little warning earlier she kept her mouth shut.

That still couldn't stop her nastiness from reaching me.

Thinks she's the shit 'cause a vamp tossed her some cheap trinket. Betcha he's countin' on it not taking more'n that for her crazy ass to spread 'em. Looks like he's countin' right.

I turned and stared her dead in the eye just as she thought that last part. She turned pale and stalked off, and I turned back to my dirty table with a crazy smile to disguise my glistening eyes. I clamped my brain as tight as I could and set to cleaning with a furious hand.

Never have salt shakers been so perfectly filled, or sugars so neatly packed. Never has a floor been so thoroughly swept, or menus so meticulously wiped. I checked all the cracks on the booth seats, even going underneath to look for wads of gum. And when I wasn't cleaning like there was going to be a government inspection, I was rushing to and fro getting orders to my tables.

By the time work was through I was so tired of listening to peoples' curious whispers I wanted to crawl in a hole and hide there 'til Judgment Day. Why did people have to be so nasty? Wasn't it enough that I smiled and served and ignored their God awful brains day in and day out? Did they have to take what little happiness I got gifted and drag it down into the dirt with them?

I parked in my driveway and turned off my engine with a weary hand. I stared at my perky red cell phone on the seat beside me, where one night before had sat a vase of sweet flowers, and suddenly I just knew I needed to talk to the reason for it all. I snatched the phone up, scrolled through my short list and pressed send on Hadley.

She answered on the fourth ring and I sagged on hearing her voice.

"Sookie Stackhouse, what have you done to Eric Northman?" she demanded immediately.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently as I wrapped the string of my apron around my index finger. But I was smiling now.

"I mean one of his favorites came in tonight, and not only didn't he sleep with her, but he practically didn't even bite her. If Pam hadn't started teasing him, he probably wouldn't have!"

"Well, I certainly didn't tell him he couldn't eat." Blood.

"But you said something," she insisted. "And then Pam found the invoice on that sweet little necklace he sent you, and asked him 'Did you have a pair of earrings made up out of your fangs while you were at it?'"

I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand to stop it from developing into a nasty laugh.

"I swear, I thought he was going to smack her!"

"What a horrible thing to say!"

"Terrible," she agreed, and then we were both laughing so hard we couldn't talk for awhile.

"But serious, Sook," she said when we'd both calmed down. "She's been with him for like two hundred years, and she says she's never seen him act like this."

My heart did a crazy little flip at that.

"Look, all I did was tell him I wasn't gonna stand for any funny business, alright?"

"What do you mean, funny business?"

"I mean if he wants me, then he gets me, not a buffet of Gothic fan girls."

She was quiet for a long time. Again with the no breathing thing... I was just gonna have to get used to it, I realized with some humor.

"Hadley?" I prompted after what felt like forever.

"I love you, Sook, but you sure are crazy," she said finally, and I grinned proof at the phone.

"That's what they've been saying for years."

"I didn't believe it until just now." I laughed, just like I always do, but this time it was a happy sound.

"Eric and I are working it out. Though I'm gonna have to talk to him about time and place and the like." I flashed back on the sound of his belt buckle clattering open and shivered in the muggy heat of my car.

"That'll be real nice, you and Eric, what with me and Pam an' all," Hadley said shyly.

"I think so," I said, smiling into the phone. If one of us didn't end up dead, first. Er.

"I always worried after you finding someone, and not just on account of the mind reading!" she said hurriedly over the pang I felt. "You're just… well you're just not like anyone else, Sook. And neither is Eric."

"He's sure not like anyone I've ever met," I agreed, staring off towards the dim lines of Tall Pines cemetery bordering our property to the right.

"And I don't think it's 'cause he's a vampire. I mean, you should have seen him with Gran last night! He had her blushing and flirting and glowing like one of y'all."

The phone was dead silent again.

"You talked to her, then?" she asked finally, and so softly I knew I was going to be wearing a phone imprint tomorrow.

"I did, and Hadley, sweetie, she's just beyond happy knowing you're alright, and that you're coming home."

"She weren't mad or nothing?" she asked in a slightly stronger voice.

"Not in the least," I assured her. "And she thanked Eric for 'saving' you, so the vampire thing is moot, too. There's nothing but love waiting for you here."

It got quiet again, but this time I could hear soft snuffles, a wiped nose or two. I gave her the time, worrying at my unraveling apron string.

"I didn't ever think I'd get to come back. I didn't ever think I could," she said when she could, and I ached for the distance. "That world, it's so… You go into it wanting to forget, and you don't leave 'cause you think you can't stand remembering even worse.

"People talk about hell. Hell's here," she snarled. "Hell's in the places we choose to walk."

"And some we don't," I said firmly.

Even if I understand people making their own choices, I also recognize their nightmares can drive them there. I knew from Gran that I wasn't the only one Uncle Bartlett had touched. I'd never had the words to talk to Hadley about it before, but after my talk with Gran I was feeling like maybe we should try.

Hadley was having none of it.

"I can't," she said in the deadest of voices. If I hadn't truly understood my cousin was a vampire before, I sure did now. "Not ever."

I hesitated before speaking.

"Not even with Pam?"

"Definitely not with Pam! It's for Gran's sake I'm not a killer, and for you," she added kindly. "Pam ain't got those limits. She was made afore this 'whole vampire wonderland bit,' as she calls it. Killin' ain't the word for what she'd do."

"She ain't the only one," I said bitterly.

"Really Sook?" My name came out sounding like a vanilla cookie, and I clenched my teeth for it.

"I knew, Hadley," I said, and at that moment I sounded as terrifying as any vampire I'd ever met. "I knew all before, and all during, and that awful, awful after. So yeah. Really."

It was my turn for epic silence.

"Eric would do it," Hadley said quietly after awhile. "If you asked him. He wouldn't even question you on it."

Could I do that? Order Uncle Bartlett to a violent death nearly two decades after the fact? The only thing stopping me from an immediate yes was the idea of shoving the sin off on someone else. I wasn't sure I could live with that part of it. But could I live with the actual killing itself?

You bet your ass I could.

"I'll think on it," I said, deadly serious. "But I'm thinking I should wear my own blood."

"You know, Sook, you'd make one hell of a vamp." Hadley sounded thoughtful.

"Well thanks," I said, 'cause I didn't know what other words such a statement called for.

Time to change the subject.

"Gran said to set up dinner for my day off. It's this Sunday, if that's alright with you?"

"Oh, that's just fine. Eric's already okayed whatever schedule changes I need where you or Gran are concerned."

"Sweet an' stuffy," I snickered, mimicking Hadley's description of Eric from the night we'd met, and she laughed.

"So are you gonna bring Pam?"

"I've been thinking 'bout it," she said, real hesitant like.

"Oh, you definitely should, sweetie! Gran will love her."

"You think so?" she asked in a vulnerable voice, and my heart caught at her tone.

"I know so," I assured her.

"Okay," she said. "I'll bring her."

"Good." I took a look at the clock on my dash and gave a painful little sigh. Hadley, used to my circumspect displays of darker emotion, jumped on the sound.

"You alright there?"

"Yeah. Just thinking the night doesn't seem long enough any more. I gotta work a halfsie tomorrow, and I haven't even glanced at Eric's paperwork."

"Oh, we've got all the time in the world," she teased. I laughed harder than I probably should have at this and ended up with my forehead resting on the steering wheel.

"I'm so glad you're back, Had," I said with weary intensity.

"Me too," she said, matching my tone. "'An' you call me anytime, and if I'm wake enough to take it, you be sure I will. If not, I'll call you soon as I am. Now why don't you go on in and get some sleep?"

But I was already in motion, trudging up into the house.

"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen now."

I passed through the hall, saw Gran's light was off, and slipped into my room.

"Want me to tell Eric night for ya?" Hadley asked as I was sitting down on the bed.

"Would you?" I said, rubbing at my horseshoe as I toed off my work shoes. I was so tired my eyelids were drooping, and I just knew getting on the phone with him would kill off a couple hours sleep.

"Of course. He'll end up calling you otherwise."

"Probably," I murmured as I curled up on my bed in full uniform. Tina jumped up next to me and settled by my waist, purring away like a kitty chainsaw. I wrapped an arm around her as I tried to keep the phone at my ear.

"I love you, Sook. I'll see you real soon."

"Love you, too," I murmured back, and then I slid off with my phone.

* * *

The next morning I was feeling a little cheerier, and a whole lot more practical.

People had always thought nasty thoughts about me. I was used to that, and I was just going to have to get used to being center stage for awhile. More so when folks found out what Eric was. But then nothing comes for free, I acknowledged while sucking down my orange juice.

I was working on my second cup of coffee when the phone rang, and I was taking my first bite of bagel when Gran said it was for me. I sighed and a poppy seed went flying out across the kitchen.

"Hello?" I said after I swallowed my bagel bite down.

"Morning, Sook," came Sam's apologetic, 'Can you cover?' voice. And since he'd been so conservative in his vamp hating the night before, I was kind in response.

"Morning, Sam. And if it's reasonable enough, sure. Not Sunday, though," I added.

"Thanks, cher," he said with obvious relief. "I know you're not due in 'til one, but you think you can come on in now? Big truck rally in Monroe yesterday. We're sure to get overflow, and Dawn didn't show this morning."

"Sure. I'm fresh out the shower, so just let me get dressed."

And since I was feeling real guilty about scaring her so bad the night before, I made an offer where I normally wouldn't take a step that wasn't required by work.

"Want me to swing by Dawn's and check on the way in, Sam? It's not like her not showing, and if she didn't at least call…"

"Yeah," he said, sounding slightly more concerned now. "Yeah, you've the right of it there, cher. Why don't you stop on by and see? Maybe she's sick or something."

"Probably," I agreed with false cheer, and then we hung up so I could go get ready.

I was pulling up to a neat little duplex on Berry Street some 15 minutes later, and parked my old car next to Dawn's green compact. A basket of Begonias swayed on the breeze while I was knocking on her front door. There was no answer, so I peered in through her living room window. I saw a cup of coffee set on a table in front of a worn in couch and felt a prickle of unease. I gave a wary look back at her car, and decided to go round back to check.

On the backside of the duplex I found what I took to be the bedroom window. The blinds were shuttered almost closed, so I stood on my tippy toes and braced my hips against the building. I framed my hands around my eyes to keep out the morning sun and peeked in through the slats.

"No," I said when my eyes started seeing.

Dawn's pretty face was purpled and her slender limbs were splayed. Her tongue was squeezed out fat like from between her lips, and her eyes bulged frantically.

"No!" I screamed.

I took in how her wrists were tangled in her sheets, like they were shackles, how her right knee was twisted and yanked up at an odd angle. How there was a thick blackness ringing her throat in a permanent necklace.

"No," I said, softer now. "No, no, no, no…"

I felt someone come up behind me, spin me around, and found myself staring at a broad chest covered in red and black checkered flannel. I couldn't help wondering at that considering the heat.

"Sookie," a man said. "Sookie!" harder now, shaking me, and I tilted my curious face up.

"JB," I said on seeing his concerned features. I'd gone to high school, hadn't I, with JB du Rone? Yes, and later when I'd been struggling for some kind of normal we'd had a date or two. He was beautiful and kind and simple and he was still shaking me…

"Sookie, what's wrong?" I heard him demand.

Dawn was dead.

"We gotta call the cops," I replied dutifully.

"What for?"

'Cause I'd told her she was gonna die.

"'Cause Dawn is dead." His handsome face crumpled, and he started talking at me like I was some kind of bereft doll. Which at the moment I think maybe I was.

"Aw, honey, you come on away from here now," he said as he shoved me under his arm, pulling his cell phone out with his free hand.

JB began talking to the 911 operator. I heard a loud squawk, and a second later he jerked the phone from his ear and stared at it with a pained expression. DeeAnn, I remembered dully as the howling kept up. She sat at the dispatch desk 9 to 5. She was Dawn's third cousin, and her closest friend.

Used to be.

My eyes slid shut, and I pressed my face into JB's chest, my nose bumping into his sweaty armpit. I had a fleeting moment where I decided Eric's underarm smelled better, and it was such a crazy notion I snapped back into focus. I could not fall apart just yet.

I sat on the steps tucked into JB's side until the officers got there, deputies Kenya Jones and Kevin Prior. They went round back and came back greener for it. Kenya ducked into their squad car, and not ten minutes later Sheriff Bud Dearborn rolled up. His dogged face was grim the whole trip to and from and back. Then they all stood milling around for some time waiting on the landlord with a key.

Turned out that was Sam, and he pulled up in a fury, jumping out of his seat and practically running to my side.

"Sam," I said, real calm like as he touched my cheek. It was like getting scalded, his fingers were so hot, and I shivered in the sunlight.

"Cher, you're all covered in pollen," he said gently.

"Am I?" I looked down at my yellow socks and shoes all puzzled like, then back up at his worried face.

"It's not important now," I said firmly, and he nodded as Bud was coming up. Sam pulled out his big key ring without being asked. He flipped to the right one with a practiced hand, easing it off and placing it in Bud's waiting palm.

Then JB switched places with Sam, and I sat hip to hip with him and watched the pollen on the porch get stickier and stickier as the heat of the day picked up. Brains were roiling around me, loud and frustrated and sickly and anxious, but for once I wasn't holding on to any thoughts, not even to my own.

Some time later Bud got round to interviewing me. He took notes on what I was saying, nodding here and there. I stared him in the eyes and heard him thinking he was too old to be dealing with sexed up dead girls. I stared into him harder and tried to work up a mad, but nothing was coming.

I waited some more. It was close to dusk now. The pollen glowed radioactive with the dying sun.

"You're free to go, Miss Stackhouse," Andy Bellefluer said as the coroner was bouncing Dawn's bagged body past me on a stretcher.

"There ain't nothing more you can do here."

I couldn't say anything to that.

"You go on, cher," Sam agreed, running a kind hand over my ponytail. "You should be with your family now."

"Yes," I said woodenly.

But it wasn't Gran I needed now.

My legs were stiff getting into my car, and I had to reopen and re-shut the door twice before it was properly closed. I felt Sam's concerned eyes on me the whole while. My stomach rolled as I turned over my ignition and I was dimly aware that in this heat I'd needed water hours ago.

I could feel the darkness growing as I drove to Shreveport. The trip took long enough that when I parked, Fangtasia was already working up into its nighttime rush. I could make out Hadley's slender form at the door, her pale glowing face framed with fat curls, the gentle silence she could offer by listening. Hadley would know…

I don't really remember getting out of the car or walking up to the door, but suddenly I was there with dozens of screaming brains behind me. I ignored them and focused on the silence of Hadley's mind, letting myself fall into that blankness like there was a miracle waiting at the bottom of the drop.

"Hadley."

Her head turned, and she lit up when she realized who I was, skin pulsing with happy light.

She went still as death when she saw me.

"Hadley…" I got out again.

"What's wrong?" she said, flying over to me and gripping me by the waist. My fingers snapped down on her wrists, and my words came out real, real precise.

"I did a bad thing," I said. And then I started to shake.

My teeth chattered like I was stuck clothesless in a blizzard, and my skin was just as cold. My limbs were jerking all over the place, and I tried to lock my knees, but it was all just too much. Hadley caught me on the way down. She scooped me up in her slender arms like I was rag doll and cradled me to her chest. I clung to her, hugging at her hard limbs, trying to get warm, trying to reason with myself, trying to forget.

"Sookie!" she whispered desperately into my hair.

And suddenly Eric was there, towering over us.

"What is wrong with her?" he demanded.

"I don't know!"

From some dim place I thought Hadley sounded frantic.

"She came up all pale like, saying she'd done a bad thing or some such nonsense, and then she just collapsed!"

Eric leaned down and peered at me, and I smiled at him all crazy like.

"Sookie," he said, flitting warm fingertips over my cheekbone. I stared up into his beautiful face, into his wide blue eyes. I could drown safely here, I thought. Just slip into the cool darkness where all the dead things are, and we could live there together. I relaxed at the thought, and my smile slipped to dreamy.

"Take her to my office," Eric said, quieter now. He pulled back to his heroic height, eyes still locked with mine as he said something foreign to Pam. She nodded and turned smoothly to the curiously patient crowd.

"Welcome to Fangtasia," I heard Pam drawl as Hadley was carrying me off. "Where all your nightmares…"

I hid my face in Hadley's chest as music and brains roared around us. Then it got quieter, and I heard a door click, and it was quieter still. Hadley leaned us over, and I heard leather creak as she tried to settle me down on a couch.

"Just for now," she said gently when I protested. "I ain't going nowhere."

Eric was there again as she peeled me off, and I stared down at his flip-flopped feet. He had the nicest thousand year old toes…

"Drink this," he ordered, and when a full up glass blocked my view I obediently tried to move it. It slipped out of my numb fingers and splashed over me just as he was catching it. Scotch, I realized on smelling it. My head panned up and towards his desk and I took in the label. Very good scotch.

"Sookie, look at me."

I looked up and found him inches away. His blue eyes swam at me, calling at me, and I took his offer with a powerful relief. I slid down into him, down, down into the perfect quiet where he would whisper all the answers in my shattered ears, down into the absolute stillness where he would hold the world up off my weary bones.

"Open your mouth."

I opened my mouth, and felt him pour something in.

"Swallow and do not taste."

I swallowed and I did not taste.

He cupped my shoulders and gently lowered me to the couch.

"You will rest awhile now."

I closed my eyes and rested.

"Did you just glamour her?" I heard Hadley whisper desperately. "I thought we all couldn't use that on her."

"She just let me," Eric said calmly back. "If she had not been in such a state of shock, I do not think it would have worked."

Shock? Is that what this was?

"I will sit with her while you call your grandmother and tell her she stays with you tonight."

"Alright," Hadley said after the briefest of hesitations, and I heard a click.

And then…

Heat was rushing up into my face so fast I thought I might faint. My belly burned, my arms and legs broke out in sweat. I groaned and gripped at the edges of Eric's couch and felt my body flame back to life. I shivered and I shook and I slid on the damp leather, and just when I thought I couldn't take any more, that I really might actually faint for it, it finally, finally, passed. I sagged down into my sweaty mess for the sheer relief of it.

I felt Eric's fingertips brush my cheek again. They were cooler now.

I opened my eyes and found him staring down at me with the emptiest of faces.

"Feeling better then?" he asked, sounding like a dead thing.

"Physically."

At the word Eric's power exploded into his eyes, into the swirling, glowing blue of his irises. I stared into those bottomless pools, feeling the air shimmering and pulsing about my head, trying its hardest to find a way in. I waited calmly for something to happen, almost wistful hoping I'd sink down into that peace again, but this time I stayed at the edges.

Eric came to life abruptly. He gave me a nod, and I got the impression that he was proud of me.

How odd.

"The rest will come," he said with patient conviction. He helped me sit up, and when I was settled comfortably enough, he lifted up the full glass tumbler and offered it again.

"Drink more," he commanded. And this time, though my hands still trembled, I kept a hold of it.

Unfortunately, this time I tasted it, too.

"What…" I sputtered after barely managing to swallow. I shoved the glass out and away from me as far as I possibly could and stared at it in horror.

"Yes, it is rather something, is it not?" He sounded smug. "Or so I am told."

"Why would you even have something this nasty?" I asked, appalled as I glanced up at him.

"I learn much about my business acquaintances off their reactions to the stuff." His blue eyes were pure devilish now. "Also, I enjoy watching their faces."

"I'll just bet," I drawled, and he smirked.

"Thank you," I said suddenly and so fiercely that Eric's eyebrows snapped up his forehead.

"You can thank me by drinking," he said with great humor.

"You just wanna see me make faces," I said, already feeling warmer. Perhaps there was some true notion behind this overpriced firewater.

"Most definitely," he agreed just as Hadley slipped back into his office.

"I talked to Gran," Hadley said. She sounded so happy for that fact I couldn't help but smile around my funny scotch face. Eric's face went suspiciously blank and I glared at him.

"She's feeling better, I see," Hadley said, and since she didn't bother hiding her smile, I gave her a big one back.

Then it was back to badness.

"Gran said something about Everlee telling her Sook found a body. One of the waitresses at Merlotte's. But what's this about a bad thing?" Hadley ran her hand over my hair. "You didn't kill nobody."

My smile fled and I started trembling again and Eric made eyes at the scotch. I took a sloppy chug and coughed and we all waited a few.

When I was warm enough, Eric spoke.

"Tell us."

So I took a deep breath and told.

"Last night when I was working I overheard one of the other waitresses, Dawn, saying something nasty about Maudette Pickens' death. She died a few days back," I explained in Hadley's direction, and watched her face go sad. Hadley and Maudette had always gotten along, I recalled.

"Anyhow, she was saying how Maudette was so boring, and that the only interesting thing that had ever happened to her was nature of her dying. I was so mad! Like she had any right, like she was so much better for her fancy face and fancier fucks!"

I couldn't look at Eric when I said this, even though he was all I was seeing, working his way in and out of Dawn's pleasure flushed body.

Dawn's death wracked body.

I took another shaky gulp of the scotch and was happy for the burn.

"So I told her she shouldn't say such things or something just as interesting might come to happen to her. And because she was scared of me, she shut her mouth."

Dawn's fat tongue jutting out her purpled face.

I knocked back the rest of the scotch. Eric took the empty glass, refilled it and had it back in my palm before I even had time to blink.

"Huh," I said dumbly.

I think I might have been on the underside of drunk.

I think I might have needed it.

"What happened between then and now?" Eric directed softly. I nodded at him while I gulped some more.

"Well then this morning, Sam called me and asked would I come in early for my halfsie shift, seeing as Dawn hadn't showed. And since Dawn never misses work and I was feeling bad for saying what I'd said, I offered to check…"

I trailed off again, and felt wetness on my cheeks. Were my eyes bleeding then? I raised a numb hand to my face, pulling it away to stare at some stranger's bloodless fingers.

"I think you gave her too much," I heard Hadley whisper furiously.

And then Eric's big hand came into fuzzy view. He took the fingers, laced them with his own. I looked up at him then, and I looked up at him with witless eyes.

"Finish it," he said with certain calm, and I was suddenly spitting the words out like poison on the ground.

"And then I found her strangled dead with her tongue hanging out her mouth and her legs spread wide and her sheets twisted up and 'round like she'd made him fight for it and I think it might of happened on account of what I said."

There was a moment of dead silence.

And then Eric said, calm as you please, "This is bullshit, Sookie Stackhouse."

I blinked. Hadley gasped. Eric went on.

"You did not murder this Dawn girl. You corrected her most appropriately for her cruelty on the unfortunate eve of her death."

"What I said-"

"A coincidence. You are not a witch or a seer. You are a telepath."

"But-"

"There is no 'but.'" He was getting all scary now, fangs descended, blue eyes furious, tight, glowing skin pulsing under the fluorescents. The couch shifted under his added weight.

"I have seen a thousand years of darkness, Sookie Stackhouse, so you will believe me when I say I know it on sight. And there is no sight of it in you."

"Oh," I said in a small voice, as I stared into his horror story face trying to make sense of my rising joy.

"You will not cry."

Apparently Eric Northman was fine with Broken Doll Sookie, but Sad Sookie was a serious no no.

"I will not cry," I said in a liar's voice as he took my empty glass.

"You had better not," he warned, cupping my face in his big palm and tilting it so he could examine it more closely in the light.

"Or I will make you drink scotch until you can no longer feel yourself making funny faces."

The tears spilled into laughter, and I nodded vigorously at him. Then I hopped into his lap and flung my arms around his neck. I grinned crazily into his amused face.

"You are just the sexiest thing I have ever seen," I purred, and his lips exploded upward.

"Am I?"

"Yup! The veriest sexiest Viking!" I proudly declared, and his face went evil with joy.

"The veriest sexiest, you say?"

"An' all mine to sit on as I like!" I bounced up and down twice on his lap and he set steadying hands on my waist.

"You definitely gave her too much," Hadley said, wedged between a laugh and a scold. The door to the office swung open then and Pam stepped in.

"Well now," she drawled perversely. "Those earrings just might be worth it."

"Get your own," Eric shot back. His eyes were gleefully tracking my generous bosom up and down with each bounce, and I giggled on feeling his blessedly responsive… endowments.

"Why, I already have," she purred, spinning Hadley into her side like they were in a ballroom somewhere.

Hadley's hands found Pam's waist with practiced ease, and a moment later her ringlets were teasing the floor as Pam dipped her into a silver screen kiss. When Pam spun her up again looking like the smuggest of kitties, Hadley giggled and ducked her head onto her shoulder. Hearing Hadley's laugh was like getting tickled by butterflies, and I laughed and laughed for it, and for knowing Pam had just jumped up on my short list of loved ones.

As for my Viking...

I jerked my head around to find him staring at me with one of his queer expressions. I framed his beautiful face with my hands and leaned in until our noses touched.

"What a curious creature you are," he said as I rubbed the tip of my nose back and forth, back and forth, over his. His words came out sounding like the fondest of reprimands.

"Well then, Mr. North Man!" I trilled. "You can satisfy me some by telling me why it is I'm happier in a room full of dead things than out with my own kind."

"Sookie!" Hadley sounded desperate now.

"It is fine, Hadley," Eric said. His ocean eyes were steady for mine.

"And to… satisfy you, Miss Stackhouse... It is because the dead things care to see you that way."

I considered this as I considered him. Mr. Eric Northman, of the steady eyes, snide words, and soft touch. The vampire Viking… the gallant killer… my nighttime hero. I sighed dreamily and fell into his smart-ass mouth. He tasted like lusty pennies, I tasted like lusty scotch.

A few minutes later I heard the voice of a lusty nun.

"Really, Eric. Get a room."

"Really, Pam," Eric warbled into my mouth. "Get out."

I yanked my face away from Eric's and beamed at Pam just as was exiting on the most epic of eye rolls.

"Hadley, you go with her."

Hadley hesitated, clearly torn, and I jumped my drunk self on the eviction bandwagon.

"Really, Had, it's fine. Eric's not gonna do nothin' super improper like, cause like Gran said, he's a thousand years rule-less."

Hadley looked even more worried at that. Eric's chest was heaving under mine.

"No! Wait! A thousand years honorable an' the like."

"She said that?" Eric demanded.

"Sure 'nough," I cheered. Scotch was my friend!

"Definitely too much," Hadley grumbled, but she followed Pam out.

"You know," Eric said mildly once we were alone. "I may be honorable as Adele claims. But I am also hungry."

His eyes were gleaming.

"Puh-lease, Mr. North Man," I chuckled, dodging his tongue with a drunk's dexterity. "You are not gonna chew on me. Tonight."

"Temptress," he murmured devilishly.

"Yours," I said with stupid good cheer.

"Mine," he claimed, a quiet savage. His fangs dropped, his blue eyes went wild and glossy, and in that moment I wanted him something fierce.

"Mine," I whispered coyishly against his lips as his nostrils flared, as he drew in a deeply unnecessary breath.

"Yes," he agreed, and when his mouth opened for the word I slid the tip of my tongue between his fangs.

He froze to death at the touch, hands gripping my elbows with careful strength. I froze with him, arms locked around his petrified neck. We stared at each other through our hungers, wide-eyed to wild blue, lusts below-the-waist to blood, virgin to vamp. He fought himself, and I fought to let him.

It was a curiously tender moment.

"I believe that is enough for now," he said after his fangs snicked up, very, very gently, bumping his forehead to mine.

"Alrighty for now," I agreed most emphatically.

He grinned like a happy devil and palmed the side of my face, nudging me closer to give me the lightest of kisses.

I think I knew then I would die for him.

"You are just enough, Eric North Man," I drunkenly declared. "Just 'nough give, just 'nough take. Horseshoes and on purpose non-manhandling and Gran giftin'. You didn't snatch me up, butcha ya didn't let me stay down."

"No."

"And you won't ever," I chirped as I curled myself into his hard chest.

"No, not ever," he agreed as his cool arms gently anchored me there.

"You know," I sighed. "I think this is my favorite place."

There was a long stretch of that dead quiet I was growing so fond of. And then, just as I was drifting off, Eric spoke.

"You scare me, Miss Stackhouse," he said in a voice so soft I might have dreamed it.

"Sorry," I gurgled wetly onto his chest. I tried to raise my hand up to wipe at the wet spot, but it was real heavy and he wasn't trying to let me go anywhere, so I gave up.

"For that, too," I mumbled, and when his chest started heaving I let it rock me off to sleep.

* * *

_**To everyone that's reviewed this story, thank you! I'm still trying to figure out how all this posting and replying to reviews works, so if I haven't gotten to you yet, I'm working on it! I appreciate each and every one of you who have taken the time to tell me what you think... 3**_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: A lot of Important Stuff happens here, but there are some funny moments, and some tender ones._

_Once again, thank you everyone for the fabulous reviews! If I haven't gotten back to you, please know I have read and taken every single one of your thoughts and taken them all to heart! They make my day! Thanks for staying with me!_

* * *

**9- The roundest of circles ain't always square**

* * *

I woke up feeling some type of way, and I woke up feeling it in Eric Northman's bed.

My mouth was somehow dry and gummy at once, my stomach was curdled like spoilt milk, and my skull was surely cracked. Even my hair hurt. I held real, real still and tried not to breath in Eric's wonderful scent. I recognized his bed on account of that scent, that and the unfamiliar mattress. I've woken up in the same bed, under the same roof, since my parents died in a flash flood when I was seven. It's got a few lumpy spots here and there, and a rickety box spring, but I like to think I sleep better for the quirks. Eric's bed was like something out of one of those commercials you see on TV, where people just sit on the things and instantly go unconscious 'cause they're like mattress nirvana.

Even so, it was like sleeping on rocks considering how I was feeling. I drifted in and out there for awhile, nauseous and aching and cursing the fleeting joys of scotch. Eventually I opened one tentative eye, then the other. The room was blessedly dark, shades drawn tight, and just a hint of light coming under the bedroom door. Enough to see by, but not enough to make me want to wreck my own eyeballs. Next to the bed there was a dresser.

On the dresser there was a bottle of Excedrin next to three bottles water next to a note.

I went for the note first.

_My Sookie,_

_Your cousin changed you. I tried to stay in the room and pretend not to watch, but she threatened me out with a promise to 'tattle to y'alls Gran.'_

_Your car is parked outside, and the keys are on the living room table next to your purse. I took it upon myself to add an additional key to your ring. Use it as you like._

_There is paper for the toilet._

_Yours,_

_Eric_

It took me longer than it should have to read this. I stared down at it and felt fuzzy for more reasons than one, so I popped a couple of Excedrin and guzzled all the water. Then I lay down and closed my eyes, cradling the note in my left hand, and fingering Eric's oversized t-shirt with my right.

I must have dozed off, 'cause about an hour later I woke to a melodious door bell. So melodious, in fact, that at first I thought I was listening to ancient bells. I lay there, bleary eyed and bewildered, and finally on recognizing the pattern staggered down and yanked open Eric's front door.

The man at the door was thinking I looked like a down-on-her-luck house bunny.

"Can I help you?" I asked with half-assed cheer. But hey, he was an ass, and I was half asleep.

"Yeah," the man said. "I'm Bobby, Eric's daytime manager."

I took a second to take him in. Milk chocolate skin, pressed jeans and a collared shirt with neatly rolled sleeves.

Pissy lip curl.

"Alright," I said, even dimmer now. "What can I do for you, Bobby?"

"Eric told me to bring some stuff by. Told me someone would be waiting." His eyes cruised over me with rude disdain, with thoughts to match.

Letdown… first visit… rare blood type or...

"Right, well I'm Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse."

And because I wanted a direct link, I held out my hand for him to shake. He took it like you might take a cruddy rag out of a pan of dirty dish water.

So this is the cousin. A buck twenty large for a live in, looks like.

I snatched my hand back and gifted him with my craziest of smiles.

"Well now, you just do what needs doing, then!" I said, bright as a sit down on the sun. "I'm gonna go hop in the shower."

Then I went upstairs and shampooed my hurting head and seethed. A hundred and twenty thousand dollars? What was Eric thinking? If he hadn't had the contract drawn up before our… relationship had taken solid root, I would be even more pissed than I was now, and that was saying something.

Wasn't that just awful clever of him?

I wondered if a hundred and twenty thousand was the going rate for telepaths. I wondered if there even were any other telepaths. I wondered how I could find out. Sam, maybe? He seemed to know and accept what I was capable of, but then again, he was real uncomfortable with my progressing vampire connections. Hadley was fresh turned, and as Eric had pointed out on our first meeting, when it came to the vamp stuff, his creature by way of Pam. I didn't know any other vampires, and even if I did, I wouldn't want to ask them. So that circled me right back round to…

Eric.

I sighed as I scrubbed at my hurting face with my favorite cleanser, which I set back in the shower caddy over my favorite brand of shampoo and conditioner. Right next to my favorite brand of body wash. I didn't even have to look at the toilet paper. A glowing neon sign couldn't have been clearer, even with some jerk downstairs thinking I belonged anywhere else.

Well Eric was the boss, I thought as I slapped my favorite moisturizer on my aching cheeks. Maybe not of me- in this particular situation- but of Bobby, for sure. So Mr. Daytime Manager was just gonna have to deal with Sookie Stackhouse, Telepathic house bunny. I nodded my cracked skull as I jerked tags off and shimmied into pretty blue panties. I nodded once again, harder, as I snapped on the matching blue bra. I would be the politest of polite, I decided as I yanked on stretchy gray shorts and a blue t-shirt with a picture of…

I trailed off thinking angry thoughts and stared at the image on my chest. It was of a blissful cat stretched out on its back in the sun, white mitten paws splayed lazily out, butterflies flitting by over head. It was cute and nonsensical and its caption read: this is the life.

I sat down on Eric's wonderful bed and put my head in my hands and cried.

I cried because Dawn was dead and because my head hurt and because I got drunk and hopped up and down on a vampire's lap. I cried because Bobby the manager thought I was a blood bag and because everyone in Bon Temps thought I was a freak. I cried because my boyfriend was highhanded and a dead man and because I thought I might be falling in love with him anyways.

I cried even harder because I realized I'd never been happier.

No more tears, I decided once I was finished and wiping my eyes with my favorite brand of tissue. I was done crying. This was my new life, and it was gonna be wonderful. I had Hadley, I had Gran's love and support, I had a new job using my strange little brain, and now…

I had Eric.

The shower had put me somewhat to rights, the crying more so. I no longer felt like I was on death's door. Nope, I was just in his house, in the clothes he'd bought me, about to eat the food he'd ordered for me. I smiled real hard at that until I realized moving my lips made my head hurt worse. I took a couple of stabilizing breaths in the hall before forcing myself in to the kitchen face Bobby the Boob.

Who I hoped to God had brought me coffee makings.

I really needn't have worried. There wasn't a spot of free counter space. If there wasn't coffee in here somewhere, I wasn't Southern born and bred. The true challenge, considering my scotch induced skull trauma, would be finding it.

"Did Eric really ask you to get all of this?"

Bobby the Boob didn't even look at me.

"He emailed me last night."

…list from hell… seven hours…

Feeling rather guilty that this man's night had been interrupted on my account, I unboxed the coffee maker and set to cleaning. I dug through the bags until I found dish detergent and a scrub brush, then soaped and rinsed the pot and the drip basket. It took awhile, but I found a big can of my favorite coffee right in with a stack of filters.

At least Bobby was organized, I thought as I spooned coffee into the filter.

He was also full of all sorts of nasty while he was filling up the freezer.

Spectacular tits… sure not for the brain…

Alright, that just did it. If I was going to have to tolerate this fellow, he was at least gonna watch his mind around me. I shoved the drip basket in, settled in the pot, and leaned a hip against the counter right next to the fridge.

"Money is for the brain. Packaging's just gift with purchase," I said as I smiled up, real crazy like, into his alarmed face.

Did I just say-

"Nope."

I smiled all the harder, and Bobby the Boob took an uneasy step back and bumped into the open freezer door.

"You want some coffee?" I asked.

"No thank you," he said cautiously. He was trying real, real hard not to think, and since that's all I'd really wanted, I took the Kooky Sookie down a notch. He still set some kind of record putting away the rest of Eric's hoard.

"Thanks for the groceries and whatnot," I said as he was rolling up all the empty grocery bags into one.

"You're welcome." He tugged his wallet out of his pants and lifted out a card. He set it down on the kitchen counter rather than handing it to me, and I was torn between humor and hurt.

"If you need anything else, Ms. Stackhouse, you be sure to let me know," he said extra politely before quick footing it out of the kitchen. I watched him go over the rim of my coffee mug, wondering at how most all human men seemed either to hate me or fear me.

I guess it was a good thing Eric wasn't human.

I sat down at the table to finish my coffee, and when the caffeine started kicking in, reality had a foot in with it. I had said some rather outlandish things to Eric last night. I mean, thank the Lord I hadn't gone and said something impossibly stupid like 'Can I have your babies?' My drunken babble had been relatively harmless, right?

'…you won't let me stay down.'

'No.'

'Not ever.'

'No, not ever.'

I mean, ever took on whole new meanings when it came to vamps. Had he meant it? Could he, after less than a week? Could I take it even if he did? Eric had said to judge him on his actions, and I sure had occasion for that now.

I closed my eyes and drained my coffee like it was laced with a tranquilizer and tried to make sense. Instead of snacking he'd held me and let my cousin change me into one of his shirts and stocked his house for my comfort. Of course, he'd been the one to liquor me up in the first place, but then I'd come to him needing it. He had ogled my bosom, but then I had bounced on his lap like a harlot on a sugar high, so all things considered that was the mildest of reactions. And! My eyes squeezed tighter on this bit…

I'd stuck my tongue between his fangs and drooled on him.

That's it. I would never be Drunken Sookie again.

I was scowling as I poured myself another cup. Not for the first time this week, I wondered how my brother Jason kept up this lifestyle. How did he manage to juggle drinking and partying and crazy mischief with a full time job and even the occasional drop by to the house? I was gaining a new kind of backwards respect for his stamina.

My hands were shaking, I realized mid-pour. I needed food rather desperately. I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning with Gran, and I seen enough over drinking on and around Merlotte's to know a full stomach was half way to a cure. I set the coffee cup down and walked to the fridge and pulled out the eggs Bobby had brought, and a fresh pound of butter. I got a bowl out of the cabinet and a fork from the drawer. I walked to the stove, and there it was.

A skillet.

It was one of those big ol' hefty ones you see people cracking skulls with in sitcoms. Cast iron, and a staple of the Southern woman's kitchen. Gran's skillet was an essential in our house. I'd eaten breakfasts from it since I could recall, cleaned it more times that. There's a method to cleaning a skillet that keeps the flavoring and removes the grime, and you've always got to keep it greased. Over the years, as it picks up flavors and memories, it gets what's called seasoned. Gran'd been seasoning her skillet since her wedding day.

I'd never hoped to have one of my own.

I sure had one now.

I stared down into the unseasoned cast iron with the surrealist of feelings. Then I glanced up and around Eric's fresh-as-new kitchen and realized that this, too, was mine to season. I would be the first to cook here, the first to fill bellies with food and hearts with memories. More'n the job and the necklace and the kitty t-shirt, this was some kind of present. How odd was it that a dead man could understand the live-in comforts of my home, and do his best to match them in his?

Really, this was some kind of miracle.

And then, since my head was already hurting and I'd swore I wasn't gonna cry any more, I set to making my breakfast with a besotted hand.

* * *

The food was half way to another kind of miracle, even if it tasted a little odd for being cooked in an unseasoned skillet, and by three o'clock I was steady handed and pulling into my drive. I had to be at work by four, and I'd spent the last few hours recovering for it. I had considered not going in to Merlotte's, but that had lasted all of five minutes. I'd done my running last night, straight into the bottom of a scotch glass and the arms of Eric Northman.

And Eric was right, I'd decided. I hadn't killed Dawn; I'd just slapped her with an ill timed correction. Still, work tonight was gonna be super awful. The nosier nosies would be poking me about finding her, and the rest of them would sure as shoot be thinking about it.

Gran was out when I went in, so I got changed for work and left her a note saying I was fine and that I'd had a real nice time with Hadley. And Eric. And Pam. The whole little dead folk collective I seemed to have going on. I realized there was a ridiculous grin on my face, and realized I was gonna have to watch that for propriety's sake.

I got a lot of curious stares when I walked in to Merlotte's, but I kept my brain firmly locked down. Sam came up to me while I was tying up my apron.

"I'm glad to see you, Cher," he said in a tired voice. "I wasn't sure you'd show considering."

"I'd rather be here working than sitting around thinking about it."

"They let him out yet?"

"Who?" I asked with some confusion, and Sam's eyes flashed.

"Jason," he said quietly. "I was sure you'd know. He got hauled up on Dawn and Maudette."

This was a sure slap in the face.

"What? Why? He's a… a lover, not a killer."

"Yeah, well some sure seem to be both."

I got a stray flash of Eric's face from his brain and narrowed my eyes.

"Anyhow, Andy and Bud figure he's good for it, and you know how folk are round here. Noose is tight on gossip, and gossip tightens the noose."

I was filling up on dread as I started on my prep. Jason couldn't have done it, I knew that. There'd been real evil in what I'd seen done to Dawn, and while Jason was selfish as all get out, he wasn't evil. He might have it in him to kill someone, but not for any reason that'd end him up in permanent cell. That meant someone else in Bon Temps was killing. That meant I needed to find out who it was real fast.

Because if I couldn't use my talent to sort this out for my brother, what good use was it? Certainly not six figures worth.

Shortly after I'd made the decision to start searching, Bud Dearborn sat in my section with Kenya Jones. They both ordered cokes, apparently wanting to stay clear headed 'til this whole situation was resolved. I vowed to emulate their sobriety right before I dove rather rudely into Bud's head.

I was in for a real rude reception, 'cause it seemed someone had realized who Eric was.

Can't believe she took up with that Shreveport fanger.

Bud was focused on my neck with eyes as hard as his thoughts.

Looks like he's keeping it below the collar for now.

I smiled at him real brightly and snapped up his glass for a refill. I marched back to the refill station and took a couple of minutes to calm down before going back for more. I set his glass back down real polite in front of him. Then I took Kenya's order for a burger Lafayette. Her thoughts were on her partner Kevin's new mulch bed, and blessedly free of bigotry. I gave her an extra nice smile, and she returned it, looking slightly puzzled at the warmth.

Little odd but nice 'nough. Shame bout the brother.

When I turned back to Bud, I was feeling more focused.

"What can I getcha, Bud?"

Your brother's confession so I don't have to deal with your fanger boyfriend.

I notched my smile a bit higher.

"Burger? French fried pickles? Rings?"

Vamp sheriff. Who ever heard of such horseshit?

"Rings be fine."

The only things in common were the bites and Stackhouse, but there ain't no vamps in Bon Temps.

"A1, right?"

Though that seems likely to change on account of her.

"Right."

"Alrighty, then. I'll be right back."

Bud wasn't the only one full of such venom, but most everybody else was thinking it about my brother. I was sad realizing how many of them were thinking more about the not-killer than the dead girls. Jealous nastiness, some curiosity on the corpses themselves, a lot of 'Always knew that boy was trouble,' but nothing that would clue me in on the real killer.

Jason came in round eight o'clock looking haggard and desperate. He sat in my section and ordered a pitcher to himself and waited to catch me on a slowdown.

"Sook," he said in that puppy dog tone he used on girls when he was gunning for his way. It had never worked on me, but then again I had a couple of advantages. I'd grown up under him, and I knew how his brain truly worked. Still, he was my brother. I sat down across from him and took his calloused hand.

"Jason, honey, you need some sleep." His eye sockets were almost purple, his eyelids were droopy, and his normal shine was dull as soap scum.

"I can't, Sook, not with everyone running round saying I'm a murderer. I'm mean, come on now. Everybody knows serial killers are the fucked up repressed ones, and I am as far from repressed as you can get."

I tried real, real hard not to smile at that.

"I need you, Sook."

"I know, and I'm already on it, okay? Don't you worry. I'll settle it out."

He relaxed some at that and gave me a smile that would have been winsome had he been less exhausted.

"So what's this I hear from Hoyt 'bout you having a boyfriend?"

"Well don't go sounding shocked, or nothing," I drawled.

"Well, Jeez, Sook. It's not like it's been real likely."

I was seriously considering dumping his beer right over his dumb ass head.

"Well it's likely now," I snapped. "His name's Eric Northman. He's out of Shreveport."

Jason's face went all pissy to match mine.

"Eric Northman… That fanger Dawn was seeing awhile back?"

Pissy graduated to pissed, and I yanked back my hand.

"He is a vampire, yes, and as to what he had with Dawn I can't speak to. But we're seeing each other now, so you'll just have to come to terms."

I glared at him something fierce.

"Does Gran know 'bout this?" he demanded.

"Knows him, too. They met over the weekend, and he sent her flowers two days back." He looked shell shocked by that. "Which is more than I can say you've done in recent memory."

He scowled harder.

"I've got serious shit going on here, Sook."

"Which you're calling on me to fix, so don't you dare, dare speak words to me on my choices!"

That kicked the anger right out of him. He sagged down into the booth seat, nose practically in his beer.

"A vampire, Sook, after all this time?" he asked quiet like.

"I ain't hardly normal. And he sees me, Jason." I thought about my skillet, about my kitty cat t-shirt and favorite toilet paper. "All of me, and gives as much as he wants."

Jason thought on this a few, and while he did I got up and did a lap on my tables. I dropped off a sweet tea and a basket of rings to Jane Bodehouse, who was on her semiannual two-day dry stretch. I gave her a big smile and an extra stack of napkins, and she gave me a tiny smile back. Her hand shook something violent lifting her tea.

"An' Gran likes him?" Jason asked when I came back round.

"She really does," I said with a hugely wry smile. "And she's brighter on account of meeting him."

"I won't say no more words on it, then."

"You need to stop by more," I prodded, and for once he seemed to hear me.

"You're right on that. I'll stop by tomorrow for lunch."

"I'll tell Gran to expect you, then."

He drug himself up and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Thanks Sook."

"Stay out of trouble," I called after him.

"I aim to," he shot fervently back.

After that things got a little crazy. The crowd was close to double what Merlotte's usually saw. In between running and listening, I was guzzling water trying to make up for last night's drunken idiocy. Andy came in with thoughts close to Bud's, though surprisingly he didn't seem to be aware of Eric yet. I felt a little kinder towards Bud after realizing that.

By nine I was exhausted.

By ten there was a Viking sitting in my section, staring right at me.

I froze at the bar.

My Viking, I had to remind myself on taking in his handsome face. My Viking who had gotten me a skillet.

I tried not to squirm from excitement and failed miserably. My hand flew self consciously to my ponytail, checking to see if it was still neatly in place. Eric's lips twitched and I knew he was fighting a smile. Damn the vamp. I scowled at him and put my hands on my hips, and he did smile then.

"What is he doing here?" Sam asked. He did not sound happy.

My smiling Viking who I'd gotten drunk and drooled on.

Oh my.

Eric's eyebrows popped just as I was thinking that last bit, and I flashed back on my drunken babble. 'My veriest sexiest Viking!'

Oh my cheeks were flaming.

Eric grinned my favorite devil's grin, and did a very deliberate self scan, head to toe.

Didn't I just know it.

"Sookie?" I heard Sam say. He was looking from Eric to me then back again, and he was definitely not pleased.

"Well, he's here to see me, I guess," I said with a shrug.

"Why?" I took a step back at the anger in his voice, then forced myself to stand still.

"What do you mean why?" I asked, feeling more than a little hurt. Sam had said he was going to think about what I'd said. Had he not meant it, or had he just decided he didn't care?

"You never say anything when Rene comes in to see Arlene," I said defensively.

"That's different, Sookie," he said gruffly. I was no longer hurt; I was pissed.

"How, exactly, is it different?" I demanded. He ignored the question.

"Why don't you just go on and see what he wants?"

"Why don't I?" I said snottily, slamming down my tray before stomping my way over to Eric's table.

When I got there, I realized Eric wasn't staring at me anymore; instead, he was watching Sam with a cold expression on his face.

"Your boss is not pleased," he said.

"That's his problem," I snapped.

Eric's gaze flew to my face. He studied me for a moment, like I was trying to get over on him at an art auction, and I flushed.

"You seem to be in hearty enough spirits, considering. I have not consumed alcohol in centuries, but I do recall the morning after can be rather… excruciating."

"Yeah, about last night… Sorry for all the drunken… everything. Especially the drool."

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, but Eric's devil-will-charm smile was back.

"My Sookie, I promise you, you did nothing more than top off my cherishable memory list."

Oh my...

"That's too much," I said rather childishly to cover up my mush.

"That is not what you said last night," he shot back, blue eyes twinkling. Mine went to slits in return. He cocked an eyebrow. I scowled. He batted his eyelashes.

I just plain lost it.

I collapsed giddily into the booth across from him and snatched up his hand. It was huge and cool and it blocked out all the nastily curious thoughts being projected at us from around the room. I yanked it towards me and dropped my face into his palm. His face went dead, his eyes went soft. I stared into them and wondered if regular couples got to have these intimate little eye ball chats Eric and I seemed so keen on developing.

"Thank you for taking care of me last night."

"It was my pleasure," he purred, eyes lit with lust. I gave a frown for show and pushed on.

"And thank you for all the stuff in the house. The toilet paper, the bath stuff, the t-shirt. Half of Wal-Mart."

The skillet.

"Perhaps it was a bit much," he agreed unrepentantly.

"An' your doorbell is real interesting. Like waking in an ancient belfry," I said, wincing at the memory.

He paused, and his expression did slip to sheepish then.

"I had not considered that," he admitted. "But no other human has the key. I told Bobby to wait until after ten so you could sleep."

I hesitated with my fingers wrapped around his wrist.

"The key… is intense, Eric."

He considered this with neutral eyes.

"Too intense?" he asked eventually.

"I won't say that, exactly," I said hesitantly. "I get that there's gonna be some intensity on account of our non-traditional dating-"

"That is not the reason," he asserted, palm flexing against my face. My eyes went wide and searching at that, but he let the statement stand for what it was. Once again I was left sorting out why it was Eric could say so much more than what I was hearing.

"I gotta go check my tables," I said after a minute or two, reluctantly pulling back from his touch. He gave me a tender smile, and my confusion melted a little.

"I'll be right back."

I dropped off two burgers and went up to the bar for a pitcher of Bud. Sam wouldn't even look me in the face while he was setting it on my tray, and my smile yanked higher to cover my hurt. I was setting the pitcher down on my table when some kind of shock went whipping through the brains at Merlotte's.

The shock was wearing Eric's face. I spun around, alarmed, but Eric was just where I had left him.

Only difference was the goofy, fanged leer he was aiming at the bar. My eyes flew to a red faced Sam, who was looking like he might lose the top of his skull at any moment. I sighed and dropped off my refill and made my way back over to my vampire boyfriend.

"Eric, honey," I said kindly as I dropped into booth across from him. "You can't be torturing him like that."

This time he offered his hand, and when I took it the roaring thoughts faded to blessed quiet.

"I am being pleasant enough," Eric said with innocent blue eyes.

"He's still my boss," I scolded over my smile. "You got to remember that, alright?"

His fangs snicked up, but the mockery of a smile stayed.

"He is aware of your new position?"

"Yes," I said, glancing warily at Sam. He was slamming around making drinks with a vicious hand.

"Perhaps he's trying to protect you from me," he offered with false generosity.

"Him and everybody else," I muttered. "You ought to hear the things some of these people are thinking."

Eric's smile dropped.

"Oh?" he asked with soft intensity.

"I'm used to it," I told him. "They're always thinking I'm not right and what not on account of what I can do. But let me try and find myself happy, and suddenly I've got no right going outside their little world."

Eric was starting to look a little scary around the edges.

"Oh, it's alright," I assured him, squeezing his fingers. "I'll care about what matters, and the rest of them can go to the devil."

His eyes flashed from murderous to amused at that.

"My Sookie," he murmured, flitting his fingertips over my cheekbone. "You are so very… unspoiled for someone your age."

"Well thanks for not calling me naïve," I huffed.

"I would never dare say that out loud," he smoothly covered, and I laughed senselessly.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here," I said fiercely. "It's been such a long night."

"Tell me," he said simply.

"Dawn Green… Well she was kinda my brother's girlfriend, and they called him in today for questioning."

Eric's eyes had flickered when I said Dawn's last name.

"You knew her then?" I asked, though I knew he had, in every sense of the word.

"We were… acquainted," he said vaguely.

"Oh," I said, trying to ignore the pangs of… something I felt. If things didn't work out between us, was that what I'd be called on recollection? An acquaintance? But then he sure hadn't bought Dawn a skillet. He hadn't even bought her flowers. No, I wouldn't even think about that now.

"This is the second murder in under two weeks," I tiredly continued. "I think Sheriff Dearborn and Andy Bellefleur are getting desperate and looking for someone to blame."

"Did your brother do it?" he asked casually, as if we were discussing the weather and not the possibility of my brother brutally strangling somebody mid-sex.

"Of course not!" I said, appalled that he would even ask. "I mean, my brother's definitely selfish and a horn dog, but he wouldn't kill anyone without provocation." This was one of my favorite Words of the Day, and I used it proudly.

Eric tilted his head towards me, taking me at my word. A thought occurred to me, and I studied him carefully, trying to decide on my wording.

"Eric, both Maudette and Dawn had fang marks on them. The sheriff and Andy think there's a connection, since both of them had… been with vampires."

"Were they drained?" Eric asked, looking thoughtful.

"Well, no. Just strangled."

"Then a vampire did not do it."

At that, Eric's gaze quick fired around the crowded bar and back to my face, and I was quick to grasp the situation. Uh oh.

"I do not like the sound of this," he said, pulling out his Blackberry with that startling vampiric speed of his. His fingers were a blur as they danced over the keys.

"What are you doing?"

"I am texting Pam to arrange for your protection when I am not around."

I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.

"Sookie, there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity," he said firmly. His eyes were a steady, coercive blue. "I already know you are brave, and you are definitely not stupid."

Okay, what could I even say to that? My mouth closed with an audible snap, and Eric squeezed my fingers.

"Besides, even if these people had not seen you here with me tonight, I would want you to have protection since you are going to be looking into the murders for your brother." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Am I already that predictable?" I asked wistfully, by way of admission.

"No, you are that devoted," he said gently, his handsome face full of warm appreciation, and my heart skipped a beat.

Just like that, I was a goner. He was suddenly too far away. I leaned over the booth towards him, not even caring that a serial killer might be watching us at that very moment. Eric had said he was going to arrange protection, and I believed him.

His lips were cool as I kissed him, but they didn't stay that way for very long. His hands came up and cupped my jaw as he pulled me closer, stretching me even further across the table. I made a little noise in my throat and his mouth went wild under mine. I felt his fangs descend, and when I tasted blood I jerked back.

But it was not my blood that had been spilt.

"You're hurt!" I said, licking at my bloody lips. It was an odd taste, but strangely pleasant and definitely Eric.

Then, in a few bizarre seconds of stretched time, I recognized the tip of Eric's left fang poking out his lip, watched him snick up his fangs, and saw his flesh knit itself closed. I stared at his lip after, wide eyed and thinking I should be dizzy from watching such a thing.

"It is already healed," he said smoothly, leaning in to kiss me again with his newly fangless mouth.

This was softer. Eric's big hand bracketed the side of my face, his tongue was gentle on mine. I could still taste copper, but more so just him, just the wonderful sweet taste of Eric…

And then it seemed heat was spreading down my throat, and down, down, lower still, until I was squeezing my thighs together and trying not to feel and trying to feel more at the same time. I was burning for life, my skin afire with it, but it seemed I was only living for when he touched me, for when he was the only thing touching me...

I had to force myself to pull away from him, force myself to ignore the screams of my demanding body. I reminded myself that I was at work, even as I read the deep lust in his deeper blue eyes. I reminded myself that everybody was staring at us, even as I watched him lick his lips slowly, like he was trying to memorize my taste. I reminded myself that I was getting off work in an hour and a half, even as he traced my bottom lip leisurely with the pad of his thumb.

Oh, dear lord. I was shaking so hard with need that my teeth rattled. Eric look puzzled for a moment at the sound, then burst into laughter, his hands dropping from my face. I had to struggle with my disappointment as I slid back down into my side of the booth.

"Oh, my Sookie, you are too much!"

"Oh, ha ha," I muttered. "Let's all laugh at the silly human." But I wasn't angry; all things considered, it was pretty funny.

When he finally stopped laughing, his eyes were rimmed with bloody tears and he had used one of the napkins on the table to dab his face.

"You made me forget myself," he said, still chuckling.

"Well now, that's got to be some kind of miracle," I teased, still trying to get my racing heart under control.

"It is certainly a rare thing," he agreed. His eyes were heavy with consideration now, and I shifted uneasily under the weight. I was so tired. I closed my eyes for a few moments, enjoying the quiet of his presence. My brain was going to get slammed when he left.

"I gotta get back to work," I said ruefully a few minutes later.

I had no more inched towards rising when, quick as you please, Eric was up and around the booth assisting me to my protesting feet.

"I will leave then, before your boss decides to go out and sharpen a stake with my name on it."

My gaze flashed to the bar, where Sam was slamming around making drinks and pointedly not looking at us.

"I will be waiting outside." My nervous eyes went back to his steady blue, and I lifted strength off what he was offering.

"I will see you soon, my Sookie," he said, leaning down to touch my mouth with his.

"Don't listen," he murmured there, eyes warm as his lips were not. Staring up into them, my uncertainty melted away into that word I wasn't brave enough to consider just yet.

"I won't," I promised with powerful intensity.

The rest of them could just go to the devil, I thought as I watched him walk his fabulous butt all the way out the door.

I already had mine.

* * *

_This chapter was harder to piece together than the last few. I gave Sookie and Eric's first blood exchange my own little take, which I hope you enjoyed. I especially had fun with the Eric/Sam bit…_

_Hopefully next chapter will see our favorite Viking in uh, more compromising positions. Hee hee…_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: A lot of Important Stuff happens here, but there are some funny moments, and some tender ones._

_Once again, thank you everyone for the fabulous reviews! If I haven't gotten back to you, please know I have read and taken every single one of your thoughts and words and taken them to heart! They make my day! Thanks for staying with me!_

* * *

**10- Believing Ain't Always Seeing**

* * *

I have spent a whole lot of years keeping my smile bright and my mouth shut.

When I was a little girl and didn't understand that what I was hearing and what I was hearing weren't one and the same, things had been harder. I'd walked around in constant confusion, trying to sort out why it was nobody ever seemed to hear things the way I did. Why it was the church ladies cooed over each others' shoes when what they really were saying was how tacky they were. How the people always saying sorry were the ones meaning it least, or how the best liars always had the most friends. Not everybody was like that. Some were kind, and most of them tried to be even when they weren't.

They weren't trying very hard tonight.

What kinda good girl…

Just another fangbanger.

Dead man's toy.

They all end up whores in the end.

I ran around serving burgers and handing out beer and dropping off checks and offering up tolerance, and all I wanted to do was scream at them all:

Shut.

The

Fuck.

Up!

There was a darkness building in me, a darkness I'd been sitting on for a long time. People were so determined to draw lines I couldn't cross, the same lines they'd been so quick to kick me over before. Was I supposed to be their good little kicking post my whole life? Lily white, 'cept for the scuff marks? All I wanted was some peace, a little quiet from all the hate folks festered in their brains just looking for an excuse to spit out.

By night's end even Webster didn't have a word for what I was.

"Sookie."

I looked up from my furious cleaning to find Sam latched on to me with somber eyes.

"Sam," I said flatly. We were closed now, and I just didn't have another smile in me.

"I'm sorry," he said. His face was raw and earnest. "Earlier… that wasn't well done of me."

"I'm used to it."

His eyes flashed pain.

"Not from me."

My fingers tightened. My towel dripped sanitizer onto the table.  
"No, not from you. Until a few days ago I'd have thought you'd be one of the few happy for me."

Sam's eyes were blue, so very blue, and I was getting nothing.

"There ain't nothing I want more than for you to be happy. But this world you're getting into… You don't belong in it, cher."

"Like I belong here?" I said, real, real quiet like.

He started to say something, but I bowled right over.

"People tolerate me fetching and carrying, but I'm not a woman, I'm not even a person to most of them. I'm Crazy Sookie, and I am beyond tired of it, Sam. I am beyond tired of being hated for what I can't help being."

Frustration came rolling off him in waves, that thick hot energy I could never make heads or tails of.

"Don't you think I know that?"

"I thought you did."

Sam went to reach for me, and I ducked back. His hands dropped, flexed against his legs.

"There's things you just don't know, cher. Northman-"

"I got eyes." My interruption dripped ice. "Eric is ruthless and highhanded and dangerous as all get out, but he's no threat to me."

Sam's mouth went hard, his eyes went desperate.

"You're so sure of that?"

"As Bodehouse on a bender," I said with vicious cheer.

"You're his now, then?" The way Sam was saying it, the way Eric kept saying it, I got the feeling I was missing a Big Something. It didn't really matter. I would sort everything out soon enough.

"We're each others."

"He said that?" Sam's voice came out harshly intense.

"More'n that, he shows it. Actions speak, Sam. Louder than words, louder even than thoughts, actions speak."

I stared at him with hard calm, willing him to come to terms. I cared for him, and I wasn't ignorant to his deeper feelings, but this was my life now. Sam would accept it, or he wouldn't, but I was done sugar coating the truth.

I would give no more ground. I would straddle no more lines.

As if hearing my thoughts, Sam's strong shoulders drooped to weary, his handsome face sagged to wistful.

"I wish…"

He trailed off speaking, but I heard him clear enough now.

I wish I'd been a braver man.

This time when Sam reached for me, I let him.

* * *

I came out of Merlotte's with a head full of darkness.

Eric was stretched out against the door of my car, death sculpture up to his eyes. Empty blue tracked my steps from the door until I stopped a few feet away.

"Eric, what is Sam?"

Eric gave a ghost of a smile.

"Why do you ask?"

I looked down at the tops of my sneakers as I considered what I'd gotten off hugging Sam.

"He… showed me something. Flashes of something. Body twistin' up and changin,' running through the woods on all fours."

I sounded hideously calm, and Eric answered in kind.

"Merlotte is what Supes refer to as a shifter. He can change into animal form at will, and must on full moon nights."

"So there are others," I murmured, keys digging into my palm. "A whole other world, this whole time, this whole time I was feeling like I was the only one."

There was a second of black silence before Eric spoke.

"He cares for you."

"Not enough."

I looked up from my shoes and stared him dead in the face.

"There's things here, things I'm not getting."

Eric's eyes reflected my darkness back at me.

"Such as…?"

"Such as what's it mean, me saying I'm yours? The way you keep saying it, and the way Sam asked me like he did. Like the word's in all caps or something."

"What did you tell the shifter?"

"I told him we were each others."

Eric's eyes were darkly satisfied as he spoke.

"It is an official claim. It means that no other vampire may feed from you or injury you without penalty. It also indicates that I hold you a position of some trust."

"So, I'm like your… possession now?"

"According to vampire law, yes."

"And to you?"

"To me it means… something else."

He went silent, staring off into the shadowy tree line.

I took a dark breath.

"I want to stay with you tonight." There was no mistaking my meaning.

Eric moved in a blur, spinning me round and yanking out my arms and pinning me to the car like some kind of human crucifix. The tips of my toes dangled in the dirt, the metal doorframe bit into my spine, the points of my breasts crushed flat under the weight of his chest. I glared defiantly up into his dead eyes, breathing hard and feeling harder.

"You come to me wearing anger, Miss Stackhouse." His voice was the softest of the soft. "I find that I do not like it."

"I wouldn't think it'd bother you."

He used his face to push mine to the side, sliding his lips from my jaw line to my jugular.

"It really should not."

His thigh slid between my legs and began pressing slowly, slowly upwards. I started fighting him for it, hips grinding, neck straining, body a trembling, hollow mess, but he gave no ground.

"Eric!" I hissed.

"Tell me why I should," he said, bored to my desperation.

"Because I am yours!" I furiously insisted.

"Not enough."

"Because I need you!" I bitterly confessed.

"Not enough."

"Because you see me, and they never will!"

He released my arms and I flung them around his head and yanked him closer. One of his hands buried in my hair, stretching my neck out almost to the point of pain, the other cradled the downside of my face. Blunt teeth pressed hard enough to dent skin, muscled thigh pressed hard enough to soak flesh.

Almost, almost, almost…

"Eric!" I begged.

His fangs exploded into my neck, and I exploded into him. He took it, all of it, all those years of closed mouth screaming, painful smiles, and full room loneliness. He drew me out, he drank me in, he siphoned me off. It was perfectly excruciating, it was terrifyingly exhilarating, it was monstrously serene.

When I got my skin back, it had never been a better fit.

I lay there for a blissful while after, listening to nighttime music and feeling his fingers slide over the crown of my head with rhythmic tenderness. My blood hummed off them both, spreading like some kind of dark magic under the cover of my skin, and I leisurely marked the tune out on his collarbone with the tip of my nose.

Eventually I ducked my head into the wonderfully scented crease under his arm and tried convincing myself the rest of my bones were available for the moving.

"Feeling better then?"

Eric's Smug voice was thick with my blood, his leg was soaked from my lust. Sometime during our exchange he'd switched our positions. I was straddling him now, with one big hand stroking my mussed hair, another splayed protectively over my thrumming back. My keys were Lord knows where, my temper had long since flown, and my brain was mush at his feet.

"Catnip," I muttered, and he roared with laughter.

I shoved off his shaking chest so I could look him in the face. He was a wicked, gleaming thing, from the pale of his skin to blue of his eyes.

"I can't believe we just did that in the parking lot."

I couldn't believe how not ashamed I sounded.

"I thought it an appropriate response, all things considered," he teased, the lightest of devils.

I raised my hand up and traced his glowing mouth with the tips of my nonsensical fingers. His lips slid slowly along my index finger, like a lazy cat marking a post.

"I keep trying to make sense of this, why it is a thousand year old killer is the one sorting me out." He nipped teasingly at the pad of my thumb, and my body jerked out an aftershock.

"Any conclusions?" he murmured, raising up glowing fingers to mirror mine. His thumb started working mischief on the corner of my mouth, and my lips parted to please.

"I'm still workin' on it," I breathed.

He dipped in around the words, dragging a wet fingertip along the slack flesh of my bottom lip. The palm on my back began pressuring me slowly closer, and I could feel him, marble hard off my blood, digging into my belly. My eyes dropped guiltily down, then shot back up to his face.

"Eric," I protested. "What about-"

"It will wait." His blue eyes sparkled with mischievous certainty. "I have had my pleasure for the night."

His palm slid up my spine to cup my neck, his fingers tilted my face to the side. I trembled on hearing the snick of fangs, convulsed on feeling the wet tip of his tongue. I was an urgent savage as he tasted upwards, frantic fingers tearing at shoulders of stone, virgin hips rolling in scandalous plea, needy lungs shoving out air in violent little gasps. When his lips hit the edge of my jaw, I twisted my desperate face sideways and shuddered out my climax into the depths of his bloody mouth.

I sagged down on him after, feeling like a well used rag.

"You continue to surprise me, Miss Stackhouse," he said softly, hands sliding down my back in tender absorption. I smiled my satisfaction into the curve of his shoulder.

"After a thousand years, that's got to be some kind of miracle," I sighed.

"It is some kind of something," he agreed vaguely, and I pushed back to study his glowing face. His devilish blue eyes were narrowed to slits, wicked lips licked back to perfect paleness, vampiric expression lazily smug.

I propped my chin on his chest and stared up at him curiously.

"Do I taste different then other people?"

"Deliciously so." I shivered at his tone.

"Why do you think that is?"

His pale lashes dropped fractionally, then lifted.

"I have tasted similar before, but it merits consideration."

"Alright," I said after a moment's hesitation. I had lived 25 years not knowing; I could afford to wait a little longer for accuracy's sake.

"And I must say, after you my other meals will definitely be bland to taste," he said thoughtfully, glinting eyes devouring my face.

"I swear to God, Eric Northman," I warned in all seriousness. "You best not even glance at another neck if you ever want to eat Sookie again."

"Restricting my diet so soon?" he drawled lazily. He seemed anything but concerned with the possibility.

"No, you can still chew on 'em," I contradicted cheerfully. "Just as long as it's from elbow to wrist."

His chest heaved and rumbled under my face, and I held on tight for the happy ride. When he was coming down off the chuckles, I glanced over and saw Sam's trailer light was still on.

"Oh my Lord," I moaned, covering my face with my hands. "Sam's still up. Do you think he heard?"

"The two-natured do have enhanced senses," Eric admitted. "But you were surprisingly quiet."

I uncovered my relieved face and looked up at him.

"Really?" I begged.

"Yes. But this just means I will have to do better next time." His face was positively gleeful with anticipatory delight.

Oh, oh my.

I moved on to other subjects by way of distraction.

"Eric, why do you think Sam never told me?" I was thoughtful on the matter now that my temper had been lifted.

"The two-natured have lived in secret as long as vampires," Eric said after a split second's consideration. "It would not have been easy for him to expose you to that world."

That stung more than a little.

"But I wouldn't have told!" I defended.

"Merlotte knows that," he said quietly, lifting a hand to swallow up the side of my face, running his thumb soothingly over the crest of my cheek. "I think it was more a matter of keeping your secret than worrying after his."

I sighed and wrapped a length of Eric's hair around my index finger.

"Sam's so keen on protecting me he ended up denying me same as everybody else. Being left in the dark isn't any kind of shelter."

"Yet here you are, being 'sorted out' under the cover of darkness," Eric said, sounding immensely amused.

"Eric, you haven't offered me anything but shelter since I met you." His blue eyes slid down into serious darkness at that.

"It will not always be so easy between us," he warned softly.

This wasn't news to me. A week in I already had a killer stabbing at my heels and a town jabbing at my brain. And Eric himself? I had flat out heard him thinking about the joys of killing. I knew full well what he was, yet all my instincts were screaming that if I ever saw that side of him in full force, it would be for me, not against me. I had definitely enjoyed my taste of that darkness tonight, and wasn't I lighter for it? Wasn't I edging close to something more?

I pressed my warm hand to the side of his cool face and put everything I couldn't yet say into my eyes.

"Just as long as it's real."

"This I can ensure."

Eric's eyes were quietly violent on the promise. I took it like the gift it was, stretching up on my toes and joining my mouth with his. He tasted like shared rust, and I lingered over it awhile, wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my fingers in his corn silk hair.

Eventually he eased back, dropping departing kisses on my swollen mouth.

"I think we best go tell Adele what we learned tonight." I felt a rush of panic at that.

"You think she might be in danger?"

"I think it best we not take a chance on it."

"Of course you're right! Not for anything in the world."

We both got into my car, seeing as Eric had flown all the way from Shreveport. I had a moment of fun watching him fold his long self up into my tiny passenger seat, during which he leered at me playfully. But then my hand crept up my neck as I was turning over my stubborn engine, and I realized with some shock I was woundless. I turned towards him again, lips already parted on my question.

"What-"

"I sealed them." His blue eyes were gravely considerate.

"I really don't mind," I insisted, and it was true. I was surprisingly peaceful about the whole deep dish love marks.

"Perhaps not, but Bon Temps needs no more fuel for its idiots' bonfire."

"Oh," I said shyly, turning back to the road with a smile. I shoved the car into drive, and when Eric's fingers came up to play with the back of my neck, the smile spread to hurt my face.

Gran was still up when we pulled into the drive, but after all the chaos of the last few days, I wasn't really surprised. She was sitting at the kitchen table when we went in, and relief washed over her finely wrinkled face on seeing me. When she realized who was behind me the relief turned into something else.

"Eric!" she cheered, shoving up out of her chair and sauntering over to him with enough sass to put Lafayette to jealous shame.

"I can't thank you enough for the lovely flowers, and the thoughtful note!"

"Adele," he murmured, leaning in to drop a tender kiss to her forehead. "It was the least I will do. And might I add, you are a vision in flannel."

"Oh, you just hush now," she scolded happily before turning to me. She popped both my cheeks with a kiss, and brushed her fingers over my forehead.

"Sookie, you're looking better than I'd expected off speaking with Hadley. She sounds wonderful, by the way! So happy!"

She gave Eric a sappy smile, and he grinned devilishly back.

"Well, Eric and her did a good job patching me up. I'm sorry 'bout not speaking to you myself after all that, but I just needed to get out of here awhile." I smiled guiltily at her over that fact.

"Don't you worry about it!" she shushed as she settled back into her chair. "You've got some catching up to do anyhow."

I dropped into the chair across from her, sighing my relief at finally getting off my neglected feet. Eric came up behind me and dropped supportive hands to my shoulders. When his fingers started rubbing casually at my aching muscles, I let out another sigh and leaned back into the hard wall of his stomach.

"I suppose you heard about this nonsense with Jason and the police," Gran said as she was giving Eric and me the hairy eyeball.

"From near everyone in town. Don't worry," I said quickly. "He didn't do it, and I'm looking into it."

"Of course he didn't!" she scolded, although her mind was broadcasting some relief.

Eric took this for the opening it seemed to be.

"In regards to that matter, I am afraid Sookie and I must share some uncomfortable information."

"Oh?" she drawled warily.

"It's about the murderer, Gran. He's targeting…" I hesitated, and Eric was quick to pick up.

"Donors," he finished smoothly. "He is targeting donors, and after my visit to Merlotte's tonight we have some concerns that Sookie may be at risk."

Gran's face darkened at that.

"Sookie is not a donor."

"No she is not," Eric agreed fiercely. "But she is my companion in every way, and such a man will not care to see the difference."

"And neither will anyone else," I added starkly.

Gran took a second to digest this bit of all around heaviness before giving a militant nod.

"Well, they'll learn to see differently or they'll be hearing words off the downside of my tongue."

I felt warmer on hearing that, and got the strange sense Eric did too, even though his voice didn't show it.

"Sookie's nighttime hours are already covered, and I have called in a favor for a daytime guard, a man named Alcide Herveaux." The way he said man made me realize this Alcide fellow was a bit more. A two-natured, perhaps? I'd ask Eric when we were alone, but this was getting to be a lot more than I'd bargained on.

"Eric, you really don't need to do all this," I protested.

I might as well have been speaking Greek, although knowing Eric that wouldn't even have been an issue.

"The house will be under guard from dusk to dawn, whether Sookie is here or not," he continued on with stubborn authority. I huffed out a sigh of protest, and his fingers brushed the edge of my cheekbone.

"It is a simple enough precaution," he said softly. "And I am owed many favors."

"Oh, alright," I grumbled after a moment's consideration. I got the sense from his tone that my consent wasn't really required on the matter anyhow, and after earlier I was feeling too loose to really want to fight.

"Thank you, my Sookie," he said warmly, dropping a kiss to the top of my head.

Gran watched this whole exchange with a gleaming hawk's eye, and when it was through took up the argument for her own.

"Well, we won't be sitting ducks here, bodyguards or not," she said determinedly. "Eric, why don't you run on up and fetch me my shotgun? It's in the attic propped up behind that old green trunk."

"Certainly."

He gave my shoulders a final squeeze before striding out, and I watched his marvelous butt the whole way, mentally thanking Lucky brand for my good luck.

"You two seem to be handling each other well enough," Gran said, and my horrified eyes flew to her knowing face.

"We're well suited," I managed weakly.

"From the looks of him," she drawled, and when my face flushed, her mouth twitched.

"Gran!" I whispered, dropping my eyes to where I was worrying at the edges of my t-shirt.

"Oh, alright," she huffed. "But a man looks like that, you'd have to be dead if you weren't wondering. You're happy, then?" she demanded.

I lifted my head and smiled blissfully into her protective face.

"Peacefully so," I said softly, and her eyes went from wary to liquid.

"Lord bless him, he's giving you girls what no one else can," she whispered. "He's a Lazarus type miracle, and I aim to make sure everybody else recognizes him as such."

Eric came back in the room then, and I could tell from the look in his eye he'd heard at least part of our conversation. It was an odd sight, the six-foot-five vampire Viking wearing a tender face and holding a double barrel shotgun. He walked over to Gran and offered it to her stock first.

Gran propped it up on her thigh, dabbing her damp eyes on the ruffles of her nightgown. She turned back to me when her smile was a little drier.

"Sookie, the shells are in the pantry behind-"

But Eric was already in motion, blurring to the pantry and back before Gran could finish speaking. Gran stared up at him with a wobbly jaw as he gallantly offered her the box.

"Show off," I muttered, and he flashed me a wicked grin.

"How on earth?" Gran stuttered as she took them out of his glowing palm.

"I smelled them," he cheerfully bragged.

"Well," she managed. "That sure is something."

"And now, ladies, I am afraid I must go," he said, turning to me with rueful eyes. "Dawn will be here soon enough, and I have business to attend to."

"Of course you have," I said as he lifted me gently to my feet. "You're Sheriff Northman, after all."

I was appalled by the pang I felt. Eric was the vamp in charge, and he'd already been spending a lot of time with me these past few nights.

"I am indeed," he agreed with serious eyes.

He seemed to sense I was feeling a bit off about the whole thing, because he did the fingertip brush over my cheekbone again. This was well on its way to becoming a secret gesture with us. Did vampires even have secret gestures? I mean, it sure would make sense. 'Sorry honey, can't smooch you in front of the other badies, but rest assured I still hold you in great esteem.'

While I was puzzling this silliness out, Eric was hugging a bliss faced Gran.

"You come see me on the regular now," she commanded, and Sheriff Northman gave her an obedient nod.

"Sunday dinner," she tacked on. "Hadley's bringing her Pam, and Sookie will be here, so you ought to as well."

"I will arrange things with Long Shadow," he easily complied, and she huffed in happy response.

He took my hand and I followed him out onto the porch, stupidly happy for the rear view. He stopped us by the old hanging swing and turned around to stare down at me.

"I have need of your special talents tomorrow night," Sheriff Northman ordered. The porch light lit up his head like a golden hair halo.

"Sure thing," I said energetically. I was more than ready to test myself out on this account. "You mind me asking what for?"

"Sixty thousand dollars has gone missing from Fangtasia's books, and while the sum is paltry, the insult is not. I will tell you more when you come to the club."

He paused, searching the nighttime woods for things my human eyes could never see.

"As for the other matter, Pam will be outside all night, keeping watch. She will wait to come in herself until Hadley makes introductions," he added, anticipating my question. "And Herveaux will come at first light to take over."

"Speaking of, what is he? A Supe of some kind?"

"Caught that, did you?" Eric drawled, and I smirked right on back. "Herveaux is a two-natured. A Were."

"A Were?"

"A werewolf," he elaborated, and my eyes went wide.

"Welcome to my world, Miss Stackhouse," he murmured bemusedly, sliding his arms around my waist and pulling me to his chest. "It is guaranteed unpredictable."

"As long as I'm yours in it," I whispered up towards his mouth.

His blue eyes darkened to midnight waters, and he raised me the rest of the way up into the softest of kisses. This was a serener passion now, a gentler yearning, a more patient lust, but no less astounding for it. My heart ached and swelled even as my hands kneaded at his waist.

"Tomorrow night, I can stay with you?" I breathed after. I felt shy even asking after he'd stocked his house for my company, not even considering the extreme nature of our earlier passions, but there it was.

"You are so very certain, Miss Stackhouse?" he asked softly. His blue eyes were drowning pools, and wasn't it funny how I seemed to keep floating off them?

"I've never been so certain in my entire life," I whispered back with absolute finality. I'd made my decision tonight, even before the parking lot encounter. I was fully prepared to be Eric's Sookie through and through, crown to toes, lust to… that word I wasn't thinking yet.

"Take the day to think it over, at least," he said in sensible consent.

I started to say something, but he kissed the argument off my lips.

"I have the time to give," he murmured when I was senseless.

"'Kay," I murmured back. I had asked for time, after all, and even when I was asking for something else he seemed intent on still giving.

Oh my, Eric Northman. If you weren't already mine I would sure enough be on the chase to make it so.

"Until tomorrow, then, my Sookie," he whispered against my forehead, and then he was gone.

I stared after him a second or two before turning my befuddled self towards the house. I had a thought at the door, and turned back to wave and smile crazily out into the darkness. Maybe I couldn't see Pam, but I was sure she could see me.

After I washed my face and changed into my nightgown, I sat down on my bed with my work envelope, folding back the yellow lid and tugging the papers out. Most of the forms were standard enough, W2s and the like. My eyes widened a little on reading the health insurance packet. It seemed vamps were extra serious about keeping their special talents healthy. No co-pays, including vision and dental, and no limit or caps on hospital stays. Immediate family was covered for a negligible fee, and I mentally made a note to ask Jason if he'd like me to sign him up.

I found my actual contract at the bottom of the generous stack, and started flipping carefully through. I'm no expert on legalese, but it didn't seem like I was signing away my first born child or anything like that. I found my salary on page two, $120,000 just as Bobby had thought, and gave a little sigh. I frowned a bit at a portion stating I had to get approval from Eric before offering my services elsewhere, but on a second glance I realized this only applied if I was getting paid. I snorted at that. Like I was going to ever need more than a $120,000 a year. The rest of it was mostly an explanation of my responsibilities to Area 5, including an ominously worded death clause, but I shrugged that off easily enough.

When I finally reached the signature page, I saw a blood red sticky note with Fangtasia's logo slanted across the right corner. There was no mistaking the loopy handwriting.

_Ms. Stackhouse,_

_As I anticipate some debate on the financial aspects of this contract, let me assure you this is the standard salary I offer independent contractors. As you have been shunned for your talent your entire life, I suggest you count the coming benefits among your just deserts._

_I will see you tomorrow night to offer you additional tastes._

_Eric Northman_

I stared down at the note with a heart full of hope. One night knowing me, one single night, and he'd written this. Most men would have just assumed I'd see the numbers and start going off on mental shopping sprees, counting off new pairs of shoes or planning wardrobes or some other such nonsense. What man would take such care, or even realize it'd be necessary?

Eric Northman may not be a man, but he sure enough knew me better than any man ever had.

I shoved up off my bed and went over to my bureau for a pen. I scribbled my signature on all the papers with absolute confidence, then tucked them neatly back into the packet and set it on my nightstand. I plugged my phone in, then curled up under my sheet with a purring Tina and stared at the yellow packet as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I spent an hour or two sunbathing the next morning, as I was determined not to neglect my tan on account of my nighttime life. Jason came over for lunch as promised, and Gran clucked and cooed over him so much he was nigh on sheepish devouring his meatloaf sandwich. We didn't say anything to him about the bodyguards and the like, as we'd decided he didn't need any more worries on top of being falsely accused.

I waited 'til he was down the road a piece before I plated up a couple of meatloaf sandwiches with a side of crunchy dill pickles and a handful of kettle style chips. I grabbed a Coke and a Sundrop out of the fridge and pushed out into the yard, heading for the buzzing, red flashes of mind I kept hearing.

I found him hiding out behind a big old elm tree, long, long legs stretched out from a green collapsible camping chair. The rest of him was just as huge, with shoulders big enough to pull a plow off of and hands the size of dinner plates. His pitch black hair was in chaos around his striking face, brilliant green eyes studying me with lazy curiosity.

"Hi, Mr. Herveaux?" I enquired with a sunny smile, wondering idly why it was every Supe I'd come across so far was handsome as all get out.

"That's me," he said gruffly, voice sounding like churned up gravel.

Northman must be havin' a case of sweet tooth.

"I'm Sookie," I said, notching my smile higher. "Sookie Stackhouse."

"I know. Northman showed me a picture." My eyes narrowed at that, and Alcide was quick to take note.

"On his BlackBerry," he added cheerfully.

"Those sure are convenient little invasion boxes," I drawled.

Did Eric snapping a picture of me really bother me? Not at all, but the idea that someone could have a snapped a picture without me realizing sure enough did. Course Eric did have the vampire super speed going for him, and considering the serial-killer-at-large he probably just considered my human sensitivities besides the point. I mentally sighed over my Mr. Highhandedly devoted.

"Aren't you his?" Alcide asked on seeing my irritation. His brain was a bit muddled on account of it, but as his focus was directly on me the reception was coming in loud and clear. He was thinking that I sure seemed sweet for being a vamp's, and that if I wasn't Eric's he might just try calling on me. He was thinking Eric was likely to kill him for the trying, and that it might just be worth it anyhow.

Twenty five years living as a bottom rung female and suddenly I was like lady sweets for Supes.

"We're each others," I insisted over my flattery.

Alcide seemed to find that some kind of hilarious.

"So that's the way of it then, is it?" he teased, green eyes twinkling with mirth. "The mighty Eric Northman roped up by a slip of a girl."

"It's ground holdin', not ropin'," I shot back. "Eric is a thousand years willful. If I don't declare myself now, I'll never hope to."

"I 'spose you have the truth of it there," he admitted, eyeballing the food in my hands now with more than a little appreciation.

"Oh!" I said, sheepishly offering him the plate and the sweaty cans. "I figured you might want something to eat being out here since dawn an' all that."

"Yeah, thanks for that, cher. I've got a cooler in the truck, but it's nothing even close to this." He inhaled and exhaled over the plate deeply, following it up with a happy grin.

"Smells great." His grateful eyes flicked discretely over my body.

Looks better.

"Well alright then," I said shyly, tucking a spare strand of hair behind my ear. "You come on up to the house if you need anything else. My Gran's in, too, and she'll be here after I head in to work round 3:30."

"Oh, I'll be following you into work. I've got a friend coming out to watch the house."

"Another Were?"

"Yeah." Alcide didn't seem real surprised at me knowing about his two-natured status. I guess now I that I'd been admitted into the Supe club, I was in it up to the hips.

"If you don't mind me askin,' what are you?" he asked speculatively. "Eric mentioned a special talent, but he didn't specify as to what."

My mouth slid automatically into a kooky smile at that, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Well, I've got a special kind of hearing."

Alcide looked doubtful, so I lifted two fingers to my temple and tapped them lightly.

"I'm a telepath."

No shit? He thought, sitting up abruptly. He almost lost the plate, but on a blur of motion caught it at the last second. The two-natured were faster than humans as well, it seemed. I'd have to keep that in mind.

"No shit," I said out loud. The words sounded more than a little strange coming out in my voice.

Alcide's handsome jaw tightened at that, and he searched my face with hard eyes.

"So you can hear everything I'm thinkin'?"

"No, no," I assured him. "The two-natured are harder for me. I can only hear you when you're thinking real loud, or real passionately. When you're… projecting, I guess I'll call it."

He relaxed a bit at that.

"Well that's good to know. No offense, Miss Stackhouse," he added kindly.

"It's Sookie," I corrected with a smile. "Just plain Sookie."

Not a plain thing about you.

His handsome face went smoky with appreciation on the thought. I've had years of practice not reacting to men's ignorant thoughts, and crass ones too, but truly complimentary ones? I didn't react exactly, but I was feeling more than a bit awkward. Alcide looked disappointed on realizing that, but my own plate was happily full up on vampire hunk.

"Nice meeting you then, Mr. Herveaux."

"Alcide," he insisted, and I bobbed my head.

"Alcide, then, you come on in the bar tonight. Beer's on me," I offered, making sure my tone was perfectly casual.

"Sure," he said, brightening considerably. He flashed me a brilliant smile, and I wondered on walking back to the house that I had felt nothing off the sight.

It seemed Eric was spoiling me in more ways than one.

* * *

Two hours later, I was at work unwrapping my apron when a little green bag fell out onto the floor. I stared down at it in confusion for a second or two, long enough for Andy Bellefluer to come up behind me and clear his throat long and loud. By then I was sure enough of what it was to flash to irritated.

"Oh, for God's sake, Andy! It's catnip, not pot!"

I snatched the bundle up off the floor and shoved it under his nose.

"Go on then. Whiff deep." He took a big sniff, then rocked back on his heels and hooked his thumbs in his belt.

"Smells innocent enough. Still, I'm gonna need to take it on down to the station for testing."

"You just try it," I said, cradling the thing protectively to my chest. The earth would spin out of orbit before I budged on this.

Sam came up behind me and set his hands on my shoulders.

"There a problem here?"

"Ms. Stackhouse is in possession of a suspicious substance-"

"He's trying to take my catnip," I rudely interrupted.

"Cher, why don't you just let him take it for testing?" Sam asked in the most reasonable of voices. I twisted around under his hands and glared my frustration up into his face.

"'Cause Eric gave it to me, and I'm not letting a single one of them touch what's between us."

She is good and off her rocker.

I spun back around at that and hissed my deliberate mistake right into Asshole Andy's mocking face.

"If I am it's 'cause you all shoved me off!"

Andy's eyes widened, and Sam's fingers tightened warningly on my shoulders.

"It's true then," he breathed, gaze flicking between Sam and me.

Careful here, cher, Sam thought at me, and I took a deep breath to calm my temper down. I reached a hand up to squeeze his fingers as I spoke to Andy in a more controlled tone.

"True is that women in this town are dying, women that need you to speak for them rather than chasin' after ones that still have voices." Andy's eyes tightened, but I pushed on.

"You're a decent enough cop, Andy," I said with quiet conviction. "Work on the man if you want to get better."

He stared at me for a long speculative minute, thoughts spinning round and round inside his head. He was thinking how frustrated he was not having even a clue as to the killer, and how nobody in Bon Temps ever respected him, even the resident crazy. He was thinking even if I wasn't crazy and just psychic or the like, I'd gotten mighty uppity on account of my vampire boyfriend.

He was thinking I might also be right.

"You need to watch yourself, Stackhouse," he scowled finally, before spinning on his heel and stalking off.

"Damn, cher," Sam said from behind me. "I'd ask what's gotten in to you, but it seems obvious enough."

"There's lives at stake here, Sam, including my brother's," I said, watching Andy slam out the front door. "I'm not gonna play nice while Andy takes out his frustrations on me."

"On account of catnip, cher?"

Blood slammed my cheeks and rushed below my belt. I could actually hear Sam's nostrils flaring behind me, but I was so not going there.

"It's kind of an inside joke," I said weakly as I ducked my crimson face and shoved my hand through my apron, searching for my note. When I found it I pulled it out and unfolded it eagerly. The words were few, but the meaning was great.

_To ensure easier listening._

My body flooded with a different kind of warmth now, and I lifted my fingers to giddily trace over Eric's strong cursive. I was on the brink of something here, something powerful and beautiful and so terrifyingly intense I thought I might actually go crazy even considering it.

I spun around on impulse, asking my question as Sam's hands were sliding limply off my shoulders.

"Sam, can I cut out early tonight, after the rush? The last few nights have been… Well, difficult doesn't quite cut it. Plus there's some business at Fangtasia that needs seeing to."

"Sure thing, cher," he easily agreed. Sam had done a little soul searching last night, it seemed. "And I've already got an ad in the penny saver for another waitress, so if you can just hang in there with me for a little while…"

"Oh, Sam, don't even worry about that right now! Even if it weren't for what happened to Dawn, I told Eric before he hired me my Merlotte's schedule came first."

"You did?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Of course I did," I scolded. "This is my job, no matter the crazy brains, and no matter what Supe secrets you kept from me for near on four years now."

I gave him a very pointed look, and the tips of his ears flushed scarlet.

"He explained it to you then?" he asked nervously, dragging both hands through his hair until it was standing up on its gold red ends. "The whole two-natured thing?"

"He did. He also told me you were probably trying to protect me more'n yourself."

Sam wore shock down to his shoes on hearing this.

"He said that?"

"Yup," I cheerfully confirmed, turning on the faucet to scrub my hands before starting on my prep.

"He cares for you." Sam's voice was sadly resigned.

"I know he does," I said confidently as I got a tub of lemons out of the mini fridge.

"I just hope it's enough," Sam said fervently, "because you deserve love like no one else, cher."

My eyes dropped to the cutting board I was setting up. Was it enough? Absolutely. Was it love? Was Eric even capable of love after a thousand years? Maybe, maybe not, but I'd seen people swear undying love and act with less consideration than Eric had shown me this past week. Besides the fact, it was my almost epiphany that needed sorting out now, not that that even really mattered. I had all the knowledge I needed at present.

Eric Northman was mine, and I was his, and by night's end I was going to prove it to us both.

* * *

_End note: I spent a long, long while on this, especially the juicy bits trying to capture Eric and Sookie's particular brand of intimacy. In the first book, Bill made it clear he was concerned with Bon Temps opinion (on True Blood, too), and I think this is one of the reasons Sookie had such a problem thinking better of herself. Eric is defiant of such moronic opinions. He's The Vamp, he knows it, and as Sookie is his, she's The Woman. Duh. I'm hoping to show her as a more confident person on account of Eric treating her with such oblivious-to-the-commoners affection, though he will (of course!) maintain his high handed ways._

_As for Alcide, he will be in the background of these stories. I in no way plan on that being an issue for Sookie and Eric, but I will not neglect the nature of his character in the SVM universe. He is present because Bill made the mistake of leaving Sookie unprotected during the day, which is why she almost died. Sookie will, indeed, witness violence in this story. That is the nature of her new reality, but as in the books, Eric will handle it like the superior assed- err, that is to say, the superior bad ass that he is._

_Next up, a trip to Fangtasia, an L word realization, and a vampire foe down…_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Eric gives for the taking, Sookie gains for the losing…_

* * *

**11- Dressed up dollies and stripped down dames**

* * *

Merlotte's was a madhouse of manic motion. Elbows rubbed and bumped, trays carefully lifted and maneuvered, orders scribbled and tossed with frantic precision. The only reason I wasn't racing for my tips was because there wasn't any room for the running. It would have been busy anyway on account of it being a Saturday night, but it had been a fair piece since so much interesting had happened in so short a time. The nosies were going rounds about the murders and lip smacking about my brother, and knocking back beers aplenty to justify. I listened in as I could, dipping into thoughts here and there looking for clues, but evidence was as scarce as speculation was gross. Most folks also gave a whisper or passing thought on my dastardly romantic choices.

I'm ashamed to say I was more than a little relieved my relationship with Eric seemed to be sitting back burner to all the dying.

Alcide came in around dusk, sliding into the lone empty stool at the bar top while looking around the jam packed bar with casual curiosity. I gave him a big ol' smile and he returned it with easy full force.

"Sure is busy in here."

"Murder makes people drink, it seems," I said, and Alcide's smile dimmed to something more serious on hearing my sad note.

"Speaking of, Northman called."

I brightened considerably at this news, as intended.

"He did?"

"Sure enough. Said he's stuck at the club on business and that I should just drive you on in to Shreveport when you're off work-"

I frowned at that.

"-and that you can drive the corvette home or get a ride from Bobby."

"Hmm," I said as I was deliberating. I wasn't sure how I felt about driving Eric's car- Eric's very expensive car- but Bobby the Boob was definitely out. I'd rather go a bare knuckled round with a bigoted serial killer than face his kind of deliberate prejudice again.

Alcide was looking a little wicked around the edges as he spoke up again.

"He said to appeal to your environmental sense if you got all stubborn-"

"Did he now?" I drawled drily.

"-and to tell you that 'It's a key, Ms. Stackhouse, not a yoke.'"

I rolled my eyes more at the highhandedness than the Alcide's poor attempt on lofty Eric. Just how many keys was the vamp going to pawn off on me? Up until a few days ago I'd been a two key woman: house and car. Occasionally I'd opened the bar up for Sam, but that wasn't any sort of regular event and I always put the keys back in the safe when I was finished.

Alcide was watching me intently as I puzzled this out, and I let my brain slip into his for just a minute to try and sort out why.

Northman must be gone on her if he's making keys. Ain't hard to see why.

Suddenly my key ring was feeling a whole lot lighter.

"We'll sort it out after work," I said with renewed cheer. "What can I getcha in the meantime then, Alcide?"

"Bud'll be fine, seeing as what I want's already taken."

I shushed at him half heartedly, and he winked playfully back. I was batting a thousand on the Supe scorecard, it seemed. Verily sexy vampires and wonderfully wicked werewolves, oh my!

It occurred to me as I was pulling Alcide a tall draft that I should probably let Sam in on my bodyguard's alter ego, if he didn't already know. I would have asked Alcide, but if he didn't know Sam was one of the Supes it wasn't my place to spill the beans. I did a quick circuit on my tables then ducked back to the office where Sam was busy getting change for the bar.

"Sam?"

"What's that, cher?" he muffled from out of the safe.

"I've got a guest at the bar." I hesitated fractionally, then pushed on. "His name's Alcide Herveaux, and he's a Were."

I hesitated again on trying to sort out the shortest explanation for his presence, but Sam jumped on eliminating the need.

"I appreciate you telling me, but I already knew," he said on raising up from the safe, stretching back in his roller chair and fanning a thick stack of ones with his thumb.

"You did?" I asked in surprised. Had Sam scented Alcide out from all the way back here then? I needed to be careful or I was going to start developing a Supe-induced shower complex.

"Northman called me earlier and filled me in."

Of course he did, right after he used Alcide to second hand coerce me into accepting a key sight unseen.

"Well aren't his fingers itchy tonight," I muttered in exasperation. Honestly, the vamp was just asking to wake up with 'HIGH-HANDED' scrawled across his face in eyeliner. Better yet, Sharpie.

Sam's lips twitched like he was trying real hard not to smile, and I propped my hands on my hips and glared back.

"Aren't you gonna nag me on account of my furry bodyguard, then?"

"No."

"No?" I drawled pissily enough to have him cocking an eyebrow.

"Northman's worried after you, cher, and so am I. Whoever's knocking off these girls ain't looking to stop anytime soon, not with the juice he's gettin' off it. And after the show last night you might as well be flagging him in."

I started to say something nasty back but he held me off with a pleading hand.

"Don't be going and getting all up in arms. It's not your fault, and much as I hate to admit it, I baited Northman into calling attention to your relationship. Though I suppose it would've happened soon enough."

He looked more than a little grim on that statement.

"Point is, cher, you don't need to be going off by yourself with a psycho on the loose. It could be anyone."

"I've got my resources," I insisted stubbornly.

"Well sure you do, Sookie, but who's to say you'll hear something in time for it help? You've been listening all night for Jason's sake, haven't you?"

I eyeballed him trying to figure out if being devoted, as Eric said I was, was tantamount to being boring.

"Yes."

"Heard anything suspicious?"

"No," I admitted petulantly. "But he might not be here."

Sam sighed at that and ran his spare hand manically through his hair.

"Hell, cher, there's people out in that bar that had to wipe cobwebs off their shoes before wearing 'em out tonight. You can bet sure as sunshine he's out there with them. There ain't no telling how many faces such a man can wear."

This last statement was loaded with all sorts of warnings and not-so-vague wistfulness that I couldn't get a handle on. I searched Sam for some sense, studying his earnest Paul Newman blue eyes and concerned half smile, and wondered how it was I had missed so many undertones where he was concerned. Was that his fault for holding onto his secrets so hard or mine for trying so hard for so long not to listen? If there had ever been such a possibility of us being together, it had slipped through the gaps in our connection.

In contrast, Eric and I definitely seemed more inclined to chaffing than slipping, and it occurred to me for the first time that this might not be such a bad thing. He already knew me well enough to circumvent me for my own sake and wait for me to come to terms. I was stubborn, he was a manhandler, and we might have to hack out places in each other's lives, but we would always be connected for it. Eric and I would never suffer this hit-and-miss game of frustrated feelings and repressed lusts I seemed to have going on with Sam.

I gave Sam a kinder smile now, more than a little empathetic for what he was going through.

"I hear you Sam, but you don't need to worry. I promise to be careful. I'm stubborn, not suicidal."

He laughed a little at that, and we both ignored strain under the sound.

"At least you own it, cher," he chuckled halfheartedly.

"It's a Stackhouse thing," I said with proud cheer. "But listen, about tonight… You still alright with me taking off early? The work business really won't happen 'til after hours, and it sure is busy out there."

Sam was still smiling over his nod, but I was happier for the smile than the consent.

"Folks are talkin' more'n drinkin' anyhow. A few extra minutes on the order won't hurt nothing, and Lisa's got a birthday coming up so Arlene's needy for the tips."

"Of course," I said warmly at the mention of Arlene's little girl. I had known Lisa and her brother Coby since they'd been in nappies, and had babysat them time enough to qualify as Aunt Sookie. These days I mostly just looked after them when Arlene and Rene went out on date nights, but I'd had Lisa's birthday present on layaway for near on three months. I'd planned on picking it up next week from Wal-Mart.

"I'll get a move on it, then. Lord only knows what's happening with my tables."

"Tell Arlene I'll be right up with her change, will ya cher?"

"Sure thing, Sam."

After that I got down to some serious hustling, cleaning and prepping as I went so I wouldn't leave Arlene and Terry Bellefluer, who was bar backing, in the lurch when I left. Dishes got washed, tables got wiped, food got ran, but in the back of my mind and the front of my heart, I was already with Eric.

Alcide was nursing his second draft when one of my few good friends, Tara Thorton, strutted on in to Merlotte's. I gave her the eyeball as she bee lined for me, shaking her ass like there were maracas stuck in both cheeks. I could already tell from her thoughts that her and her fiancé, Benedict 'Eggs' Tallie were on the outs again. I had her margarita in the blender before she'd even slid onto the stool, smelling like sin and smiling like Satan's mistress.

"Ya know girl, sometimes I do love that funky brain of yours."

Alcide shot me a loaded look as I was setting Tara's margarita down on a little paper napkin.

"Yup," I said to the both of them cheerfully. "It sure is handy sometimes. Love the hair, by the by."

Tara's dark hair was cut pageboy style and artfully tousled like she'd just gotten out of bed from doing anything but sleeping. It matched her sooty lashed bedroom eyes and plumped up lips.

"Thanks," she said, fluffing it more for Alcide's benefit than mine. "I just got it done at the new salon next to my place."

Tara owns Tara's Togs, one of the few shopping boutiques in Bon Temps. She has all sorts of fair priced frippery, from casual to formal, and usually holds a choice piece or two until clearance for me. I had gotten my flower print sundress I'd met Eric in at her store on 50 percent off, and I had my thoughts on a few other bits he might be fond of me in as well. From there my thoughts slipped to my limited wardrobe, then downwards to Bobby's sneering attitude towards my appearance.

"Speaking of," I said. "I was thinking on running by the shop sometime this week and picking up some new outfits. Business wear and the like, mostly."

"Oh?" Tara said, sipping off the frosty rim of her drink and making eyes at Alcide. "What for?"

"I got a new job."

That got her attention.

"A job?" she said, abandoning her deliberately innocent orange sugar licking. "In this po'dunk town?"

"No, not exactly. It's in Shreveport." I hesitated. "Listen, I'm getting off in about twenty. Can you wait 'til then? It's complicated, and I'd rather fill you in outside."

Tara's gaze whipped around the bar at all the hawk-eyed nosies, and then she gave a big snort.

"Sure. I'm sure I can find something to keep me company," she said, sliding sideways to more directly face Alcide. My usually kooky smile went soft with bemusement.

"Alcide Herveaux, meet Tara Thorton."

They faced each other with handsome smiles and no small amount of sexual tension. Maybe it was on account of my spectacular happy moments the night before, but I seemed to be all awash in lusty waves.

"Y'all two know each other then?" Tara purred on offering him her hand. Alcide took it with a big grin, his huge palm swallowing her slender one.

"Alcide's one of my new co-workers," I hedged as he was brushing her knuckles with a kiss. Supe's sure did seem big on the whole gallantry bit.

"Sure does offer nice scenery," she purred, and Alcide's grin went high enough to split his face.

"Oh, yes," I agreed vigorously, but it wasn't Alcide I was picturing. Nope, I was flashing back on my delicious nocturnal sheriff. All six and a half glowing feet of my blue eyed, lusty handed, overly considerate, Viking vamp wonder. I sighed, and it must have been pretty loud because Tara ripped her eyes off her flirt to study me closer.

"Sook, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're moony."

"That's a word for it," I said dreamily, fiddling with my horseshoe charm and trying real, real hard not to think about what Eric and I were going to be getting down to later that night. Tara's eyes dropped to my necklace, then back up with giddy shock.

"You got a man now? Do I know him? Who is he?"

"His name's Eric Northman," I claimed proudly. "He's out of Shreveport. And yes, he is mine."

Tara squealed like a piglet jerked off the teat and came round the bar to snatch me up in a flamboyant hug. I giggled in the swell of her good cheer.

"Tell me tell me! Is he sexy?"

"Oh, Tara, he owns the very word."

"Damn girl! Just listen to you with your sexed up voice! Did I say moony? Let's try love drunk."

"We did that," I bragged happily. "Well, I got drunk and he postponed my advances. Mostly anyhow."

I felt the disbelief coming off Alcide's brain and made eyes at him while nodding authoritatively. His disbelief morphed into shock on seeing my determined expression, but he quickly drowned it out in his beer. I turned back to Tara bemusedly mollified.

"Where'd you meet him?"

I paused a second on my answer, but I knew after Tara's crazy violent childhood not much rocked her boat. She's more about living life out rather than judging it to pieces. If anyone in Bon Temps was going to be supportive of my adventurous romance, it would be Tara.

"Fangtasia," I said confidently. Her eyes widened a bit at that, and I shoved on with a rueful grin.

"He's the owner."

"Shit girl, really?" True to form, she sounded impressed. "Man, all them years learning the necessary skills, and I am not talking about his business acuity."

"Tara!" I huffed, flicking my eyes to Alcide's smirking mug, but she just kept right on.

"Cosmo had an article about how fast they can move it just last month. Stroke you to happy pieces."

Truthfully, I wasn't nearly as appalled as I probably should have been. I was feeling a might bit liberated, and oh boy, was Eric sure going to be stroking something tonight if I had my way. I had to sink my teeth in my lip to block out a groan on remembering what he had done to me only the night before. With just his thigh and his fangs. My blood took an eager vacation south just thinking on it.

I heard Alcide make a kind of strangled sound and had to choke off one of my own as I caught a pulse of energy off his brain. He was smelling me, scenting my arousal, and torn between humor and his own big wolfie lust.

Oh my God.

My blood rocketed back up to my face so fast I had to grip the edge of the bar with both hands. I slammed my mind shut to prevent any more unwanted thoughts from getting in. No, I wasn't saying any words, but I sure could feel my crimson face doing a whole lot of talking.

"You alright, Sook?" Tara asked half in jest. Her big amber eyes were sparkling with evil humor. I thought her and Eric were going to get along just great.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna go drop a check," I mumbled, dashing past a poorly composed Alcide and a leering Tara.

I took a good fifteen minutes running around cramming in my shift-end cleaning and trying to convince myself that I did not, in fact, have a fever. The few seconds I ducked into the walk-in freezer helped considerably. I stood staring at industrial-sized boxes of frozen chicken fingers and rings and reminded myself that I was soon to become a cleverly sophisticated vampire's lover. Heck, I'd already practically tangoed with him in the parking lot. I would not be embarrassed that a hewn jawed werewolf had gotten a whiff of my sexy yearnings. Not that it was Alcide's fault, really. He couldn't help having a Supe nose, just as I couldn't help hearing his thoughts.

Soon enough I wouldn't be hearing anything but Eric's passion speak.

With a renewed smile, I squared my shoulders and briskly exited the freezer on a dramatic cloud of mist. I rounded my last tables with the cheeriest of faces, cashing out two checks and happily ignoring all the vicious thoughts aimed at the questionable decency of my virgin groin. Tara and Alcide caught my eye as I was taking Jane Bodehouse's crumpled five out of her shaky palm. Tara mimed walking outside with her fingers, and I nodded at them both.

It was about 8:30 when I finally finished and swung into the office to grab my purse.

"Night, Sam," I said on my way out, and since he was trying so very hard not to look sorrowful, I leaned in and hugged him tight around the neck.

"Be safe," he said softly on hugging me back.

"Thanks," I breathed in his ear, and he popped a quick kiss to my cheek.

I went out the back exit to the employee lot and found Tara stretched out on my car talking with Alcide. Oddly enough, they were chatting about their crazy ex-fiancés.

"Alright, so spill," Tara said immediately on seeing me. "Right from the top. Feel free to embellish for the story's sake."

Alcide gracefully made noises about having to check some paperwork. He strolled over to his truck, rummaging until he found a random stack, then stretched out against the side of his truck to look it over under the flickering lamppost.

It took about 15 minutes to catch Tara up from Hadley's reappearance to meeting Eric, to getting hired by Area 5, to my investigating the murders over Jason getting accused. Even skipping over the parking lot orgasms, her amber eyes were wide enough to show all around white by the end of it.

"And so that's it? You're like the Godvamp's lie detector girlfriend now or something?"

"We're keepin' it separate," I insisted sheepishly. "But that's the gist of it, yeah."

"And which one of these positions he's putting you in accounts for the mucho manly meat?" Tara asked, eyeballing Alcide up and down and then down again for a closer look. I elbowed her in the gut and she puffed out a hammed up sound.

"Neither, actually. Alcide's here on account of the serial killer."

Tara's thin eyebrows shot skyward.

"The killer's got a pin on you?"

"Well, it's not positive or the like, but Maudette and Dawn both had fang marks on them, and Eric came in to see me last night and flashed Sam-"

"Whoa, for real?!"

"-his fangs," I finished drily. "And since Andy and Bud are figuring that might be why they got killed, Eric isn't too keen on chancing it. Even if it weren't Jason on the line for this, I'd probably be looking into it for Maudette and Dawn's sake."

Tara snorted garishly at Dawn's name.

"Shit, I'm surprised Dawn didn't get herself snuffed years ago."

"Tara Thorton!" I scolded in appall. "That is an awful thing to say!"

"What? That girl was a bitch, plain and simple. Death don't change the fact."

"Ain't no one alive deserves to die that horrible," I admonished quietly, and Tara flashed from bitch to shame.

"I'm sorry, Sook. I wasn't thinking on you being the one to find her."

I fought off a shiver as I all-too-clearly recalled Dawn's lurid corpse, and she pulled me into a quick hug.

"No, it's alright. I won't fault you for the honesty. The tact perhaps, but not the honesty."

"I guess they skipped that part at the baby makin' shindig."

We laughed, and I hugged her back all the harder.

"So you got this first time deal tonight, huh?" she said on pulling back.

We both knew she wasn't talking about my meeting at Fangtasia.

"Yes, and I need to go home and get ready," I said, ducking my flushed face and searching busily for my keys.

"Uh huh. What you really need is a new outfit. Come on with me to the store real quick and I'll set you up to get him going at the gate," she said, wagging her eyebrows in a lewd rendition of Groucho Marx.

I wrinkled my nose impishly back.

"I got him just fine off my current clothes, thank you much. The dress you sold me, actually."

"Sure don't mean you can't spruce it up. Hook 'im in the balls, hold 'im by the heart."

She made an overly dramatized caricature of reeling him in, and I had to laugh over her crudeness.

"Besides girl, if anyone's deserving of an outfit for her new man, it's you," she said winsomely, leaving my longtime virgin status kindly unspoken.

She had a point, I knew, but I was habitually cautious about spending. We'd had to replace the roof last spring, and my bank account still wasn't entirely recovered. Then of course, I had just signed a contract jumping my salary up a decimal place. Regardless, old habits die hard.

"I don't know, Tara."

She scowled prettily at my words, popping her hands on her hips and glaring disappointment at me.

"You've got the big payday now and what not, right?"

"Well yes," I agreed warily.

"So come do what it is normal girls do to celebrate new jobs," she said. 'Cause it was Tara, I knew she meant the words for what they were and not as a slur, but I still took a gut punch on hearing them.

None of that now, I self chided. Line straddling is over, new life is on. Did I want to go shopping? Yes, I did. I wanted Eric to want me just for looking. But even more than that I wanted to feel proud standing for to him, and wasn't that just a whole new kettle of bizarre fish?

"Alright," I finally conceded with a bouncing nod. "Shopping."

Tara crowed in victory and started dragging me towards her Taurus.

"What about my car?" I protested in vain.

"It'll be fine here overnight. Bodehouse does it all the time, and this way you have to take Eric up on the corvette."

It seemed nobody was having me drive tonight. I sighed out the rest of my reluctance and quit dragging my feet so I could get to Eric faster.

"I'll just follow then," Alcide called after, and I shot him an apologetic look.

"No worries, cher," he said with a wicked grin. "Watching y'all is right up there with HBO."

I scowled at him as Tara was shutting her door in my face, but he just kept on grinning as he hopped up in the cab of his truck. He kept up with us most of the three miles to the little shopping complex, which is saying something even on the short distance as Tara is a loaded pistol behind the wheel. She really tried losing him in the last few blocks, cutting turns sharp enough to throw my body into the door and have my hands wringing at my belt, but when we pulled into the lot he was already waiting.

As we got out of the car he strolled over whistling a proud little tune.

"Got some moves for your hulk, Herveaux," Tara sassed on tossing her head sultrily back.

Alcide grinned roguishly back, tucking his thumbs into his pockets and rolling back on his heels.

"GPS. Never go on the job without it."

I had to roll my eyes at the both of them.

"Speaking of jobs, I do have an appointment scheduled with my vampire sometime tonight."

_I'll just bet._

I shot Alcide a fierce smile at that smug thought, and he raised his huge hands up in easy surrender. Tara hooted and grabbed my forearm to start dragging me again towards the store, digging for her keys with the other hand.

All dragging aside, I'll give Tara this: she sure does know her job.

Ten minutes after she shooed us in and flicked on the lights, I was standing half naked in her dressing room staring down at a pile of clothes I would seriously consider wearing. There were eight pairs of trousers she assured me would make my legs look a mile long, a dozen assorted blouses I had marked as sexy professional, four skirts and two shoeboxes with shoes I'd been instructed to wear with the pants to get the full effect.

I've always been a speedy shopper. Being in a store with people twisting at shopping lists while debating milk gallons versus gas or shopping rooms self berating over eating while out loud claiming defective zippers has never been a fun time for me. But afterhours shopping was a surprisingly relaxing experience. Alcide's brain was a quiet red buzz, and Tara's familiar enough to tune out.

Their auditory voices hummed softly as I mix-and-matched my way casually through the pile, finally deciding on four pairs trousers, two skirts and six blouses before turning to the dresses hanging on back the stall door. There were three of them, two sundresses and a dressier sort, and I fiddled with my horseshoe charm as I lifted the first. It was almost neon blue with a white bodice top, a fitted waist and little cap sleeves. I'd tried it on before, so I knew it was a good fit. The second dress I was a little less sure of. It was sort of peasant princess, a pale, pale pink with wispy sleeves and a bunchy bodice. I tugged it on overhead, turned to the mirror and stared.

"Holy cleavage," I muttered at my image, and it was true.

The bodice was a show-and-tell tease, clinging just below my collarbone while stretching in attempted respect over my ample assets. The stretchy material kept close until just under my waist, where it dropped straight down to the knee in the same tissue thin fabric as the sleeves. The sleeves themselves were slit from wrist to shoulder seam, giving a flash of my tan skin on my every move.

"I hear you muttering in there. You come on out here and show us, girl," Tara called, and I sighed and shoved out of the dressing room.

Alcide whistled. Tara clapped. I flushed.

"I don't know what shoes I'd wear," I protested, playing with the hem.

"You got white ballet flats?" she demanded.

"Yeah."

"That's all you need with the rest. That and some naughty unders," she added saucily.

I turned on my heel and marched back to the dressing room just as Alcide's massive shoulders started rocking.

"I'll start you a pile," she hollered as I was tugging the dress carefully back off. I heard the muffled sound of Alcide losing it and Tara snickering, and I scowled into the white cotton under layer. I made short work of trying on the black evening dress, pulled my work uniform back on and scooped up my purchases with one arm. I jerked open the stall door to find them both grinning at me wildly, but I ignored them on huffing my way to the register.

Where there was a substantial pile of scanty fripperies already waiting.

I stared at the lot of it, trying to sort out some kind of sense. They were like miniature fabric candies, red, white, and black lace, pink, blue and cream silks, ribbons and sheer, satins and bows. What would I ever do with such nonsense? Then I had a sudden flashback of Eric controlled losing it the night before, and my irritation edged into a different kind of heat.

"Fine," I agreed defiantly, tossing my pile over top the lingerie mountain. "I'll take the whole lot."

"The whole thing?" Tara asked hesitantly as I was tugging my checkbook out of my purse.

"Sure thing," I cheered as I scribbled Tara's Togs across the top the check. "They're all in my size, right?"

"Yeah, but Sook-"

"I've got occasion to wear 'em now, Tara," I interrupted with absolute finality. "I might as well enjoy it."

And Tara, never one to resist a sale, rang me up with a dollar-sign leer.

Thirty minutes later, Alcide and I were walking into my kitchen with my swath of bags. I stopped at the entrance way in happy surprise to see Hadley sitting and drinking a True Blood with Gran.

"Sookie!" she cheered happily, blurring up to her feet and over to give me a hug.

"I'm so happy to see you, sweetie!" I said as I squeezed her back through my huge collection of bags.

"Yeah, well, I figured there was no sense in waiting on dinner since I'd already talked to Gran on the phone and was sitting out watching the house and what not."

"Waiting at all was nonsense," Gran scolded gently. "This here's your home as you like, same as it is for all my grand babies."

Hadley beamed back at her, pale skin glowing radioactive bright. I sent a little prayer of thanks skyward on seeing the joy on her face.

"And who's this strapping young man then?" Gran asked, eyeing Alcide with healthy appreciation. It seemed Eric still had her heart as much as mine.

"Ma'am," he said respectfully on stepping forward. "I'm Alcide Herveaux. Mr. Northman has me looking after Sookie here."

"Welcome to the team, then. Can I get you something to drink? We've got pop and coffee and juice."

"Pop'll be fine."

"Let's go see what we've got."

While Gran was settling Alcide with a drink, I started making my way towards the hall with my plethora- see word of the day- of bags.

"You want me to come help sort what you got?" Hadley offered hopefully.

"We can sort through it tomorrow night after dinner," I assured her. "Right now I just want to jump in the shower and get dressed. You stay and enjoy catching up with Gran."

I managed my way up to room and dumped my bags unceremoniously on the bed. I packed my overnight bag first with a few new outfits and an assortment of lingerie, throwing in my bottle of Obsession, my work packet, a couple of novels and my spare bikini, just in case. I pulled the zipper closed, then open again before going and rummaging up my drawers for a couple of work outfits. If I was going to be spending a lot of time at Eric's, I might as well leave a uniform or two so I could skip the extra trip home.

My need for Eric was growing, and I set some kind of record get ready for him. I was stripped and pulling the shower curtain not five minutes later. I soaped and shaved, lathered on lotion and spritzed on scent. I pulled on my fairytale dress over my new undies and brushed my hair and slapped on makeup and barely bothered to even look twice.

When I got downstairs, Alcide was sipping on a Sundrop and chatting with Gran and Hadley at the kitchen table. He rolled to his feet on seeing me, striding over and lifting the bag off my shoulder with an appreciative smile.

"You look gorgeous," he said with easy charm.

"Thanks," I said shyly back, as he was trying real hard to keep his lust on lockdown.

"Doesn't she just?" Hadley said in awe. "Eric's gonna just lose it."

Gran clucked in happy disagreement.

"Man like that'll know to keep it on sight, I'll say."

"Thanks Gran," I said warmly, walking over and bussing her cheek with a kiss.

"I've got business at Fangtasia tonight, so I'm gonna stay over at Eric's."

"Well you have a good time, then, honey," she smiled, managing to be both rueful and good-humored at once. Hadley, who more than knew exactly what Eric and I planned on doing with our time, was doing her best to keep her smile circumspect.

"I can drop your car off at Eric's before I bunk down, Sook, if you want to drive with Alcide," she offered graciously.

I tried not to show my relief about having another option than driving Eric's corvette. It's not that I wouldn't have enjoyed the ride, but the idea of being responsible for something I couldn't afford made me more than a little nervous. Of course, with my new job, I actually could afford a nicer car. I might even need one, considering how often I was going to be driving back and forth to Shreveport.

"What about your car?"

"Oh, I ran instead."

"You ran? As in the whole way from Shreveport?" Talk about environmentally friendly.

"Sure thing," she cheered. "It's such a nice night, and beside that, I'm real fast. Pam says I've got a talent for it."

"Alright, that'll work," I agreed. "And this way I'll be back in time to help with the pre-dinner cleaning." Hadley and I grinned big at each other, as she remembered Gran's cleaning whirlwinds as well as I.

Gran had other ideas on work share, it seemed.

"Sookie, you helped me with the spring sweep not five days back. You go on and enjoy yourself in Shreveport and come back with Eric when he wakes up."

"But Gran-"

"But nothing!"

I stared down at her determined face in fond exasperation.

"What will I even do all day?"

"Eric's got a flat screen in the basement," Hadley offered mischievously.

"Hose that," Gran shot back. "She'll go car shopping."

What was it with people trying to separate me from my car tonight?

"There's nothing wrong with my car," I said in puzzled irritation, though I'd been thinking much the same not minutes ago.

"Not yet, but you've got a payday coming, and yours is edging to clunker."

Alcide choked on his Sundrop mid sip. I slapped him less-than-companionably on the back, shooting a reproachful look at a trying-not-to-chortle Hadley.

"I hear you," I said once his coughing had subsided.

"Good. Now you go on and tell your Eric that I expect you all to arrive at nine o'clock sharp," she said, rising to her feet and all but shoving me and Alcide out the door.

"Have a terrific night Sook!" Hadley cheered wickedly. I started to snark something inappropriate back, but Gran slapped me with a look and I cut the words off at the last moment.

"I aim to," I amended weakly, and she sniffed in approval as we finally made it back out the door.

Alcide seemed to sense I wasn't in a talking mood on the way to Shreveport. We spent the drive in companionable silence, with the low hum of country for background noise. It was near eleven when we finally pulled up to the front of Fangtasia, but my night had yet to even begin.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" I asked as he was helping me down out the cab of the truck.

"Bright in the a.m.," he agreed cheerfully. "I'll be sitting outside Northman's in the driveway."

"You can come on in for breakfast, if you'd like," I offered as he set my bag down on my shoulder.

"You've got food at the vamp's?" he asked, eyebrows crawling up his forehead in surprise.

"I've got a supermarket," I replied wryly. "Eric stocked up."

Alcide rubbed his hand thoughtfully over his jaw on hearing this.

"Seems he's taking great care with you," he said.

"He cares," I agreed by way of correction. Alcide just inclined his head respectfully before watching me walk up to the front of the club.

I wound my way through the buzzing crowd to find Pam was standing at the door with a hip cocked and her fangs showcased in her beautifully bored face. Her features took on a new life on seeing me.

"Why if it isn't our favorite sanguine sweetheart," she purred happily, eyes whipping from my face to my toes and back again.

"Hiya Pam!" I said cheerfully. I think I surprised us both by bouncing up on my toes to kiss her cheek. The crowd behind us gave a mental gasp, but Pam just laughed and snapped her fingers briskly. Another vamp flashed up to take her spot at the podium, and she took me by the arm.

"Just wait until Eric gets a load of you," she teased as we pushed into the club.

"Is he busy?" I asked, sounding more than a little eager.

"I'm sure it wouldn't matter even if he was," she said, voice evil with mirth. "But he's floating around here somewhere."

My eyes wandered to where we'd sat a few nights back, but the raised throne wasn't where I remembered it. I slowed us to a standstill for a quick double check, scanning over the club, then again to the spot for a closer look. Nope. The platform was definitely gone. I stared at the vacant spot confusedly for a moment, and Pam was quick to catch on.

"He had 'em tear it out after hours last night."

"What? Why?"

Pam shot me a pointed look that confused me more than settled.

"He didn't say why when you asked?" I prodded again.

"How're you so sure I asked?" she drawled.

"Seemed likely to your character," I teased, and she smirked back as she started us walking again through the crushing crowd. I was grateful for her hand on my elbow as it pushed at least the mental voices down to a hum.

"Well, I did ask, but he was authoritatively vague about the whole thing. Something about not needing a throne to be in charge." She snorted in dramatic disbelief. "But I know Eric. He wants you, enough to subject himself to all your pesky demands for monogamy with all the fixings."

"You and Hadley are monogamous," I defended as we ducked past a red eyed frat boy wearing enough cologne to draw attention to the joint he'd smoked in his car.

"Mostly," she agreed readily.

Mostly? I was so not going there.

"But Eric never has been. Still, when he wants something, he goes to the ground for it, and I've never seen him want anything the way he wants you."

Pam didn't seem overly concerned with this rather tremendous statement, but it sure had me weak in the knees and soft in the head.

"Huh," I managed as I glanced back at where Eric and I had sat on high just a few days before. The large square of newly revealed linoleum was a few strange shades lighter than the surrounding floor, but just as glossy with a fresh coat of wax. Just how long had that platform sat there with Eric perched on top scowling at his adoring fans of the fang? Since Fangtasia had opened its doors? And now there were dozens of feet milling all over the virgin ground all for the sake of lil' ol' me.

Was it any wonder I was in love with Eric Northman?

I jerked to a stop so fast Pam nearly wrenched my arm out its socket. I wouldn't have noticed even if she'd managed to finish the job off. I was too busy desperately recounting, recalculating and regurgitating my moony musings.

I couldn't be in love with Eric, could I? It was too soon, and he was such a big character. Sure, we belonged to each other off a two way confession, but he was highhanded as all get out and had women crawling over him like ants on a summer picnic. And who could blame them, what with Eric being- literally- drop dead gorgeous? Lord knew I was on him much the same.

Still, I knew myself to recognize that lust was the easy out answer here. Even if I was truly in love with him, why exactly was I freaking out? This was what ordinary girls did, after all. They fell in love, mooned and sighed and wondered. Hadn't Pam just said he wanted me like nothing else? Hadn't he been hinting and implying and dancing all over the importance of our connection? Didn't I have a key to his house and one on the way to his car? Hadn't he agreed to curb his appetites and tried to put us on equal footing by removing himself from his throne?

Hadn't he bought me a damned skillet?

Yup. Sure enough I was in love with Eric Northman.

"Please do tell me we're gonna have to liquor you up again," Pam purred, and my eyes snapped back to focus.

"I could do with one," I agreed rather desperately, and Pam scowled us a clear path to the bar.

Longshadow flashed in front of me with a fanged smile and a tumbler of ice.

"G and T?" he asked. I noted vaguely that his leer was somewhat more discreet this evening.

"Yes please," I all but begged, and seconds later I was chugging down tonic and gin. I sighed mightily on hitting bottom.

"There there, doll," Pam said, patting my hand with mischievous goodwill. "Eric will take care of those sighs soon enough."

I shivered at that promising thought, but it was love that had me trembling.

"I need him," I confessed shakily on setting my glass back on the bar top. I barely noticed Longshadow replacing it.

"Already I need him, and I can't help thinking I'm gonna end up hurting for it in the long run. And not on account of the vampire business," I added on an afterthought.

Pam's smile was softer now, almost tender, but her tone was stern.

"A lot of people depend on Eric being what he is, but not for who he is. If you think that he doesn't know what you're offering him, if you think it doesn't matter, you are a fool."

"Well, jeez, Pam," I said wryly. "Don't go pulling punches or anything."

She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sometimes the truth hurts. But it doesn't have to," she said pointedly.

I stared at her a moment as waiting for this wisdom sank in. Did loving Eric have to hurt, or was I borrowing trouble on a maybe? Everything he'd done for me so far showed that he wanted anything but for me to feel pain. Well, excepting the good sort. I needed to see him, I thought rather desperately. I just needed to lay eyes on him and have one of our funky little eyeball conversations and everything would sort itself out.

I turned to wishfully search the bar, and there he was, just as if I'd called him, a tribute to his Viking heritage with his long blond hair framing his handsome, glowing face.

The crowd vanished as we stared at each other, as sounds faded, as minds eclipsed. His eyes didn't raze me like I'd expected. They simply absorbed. I stood still to the grave and let him swallow me up, heart pounding as he took in how I'd dolled myself up for Our Big Night. His expression was earnest even for my not-so-subtle packaging, his blue eyes tenderly lustful, his fangs conspicuously absent. Why had I ever been afraid of this testament of profound masculinity?

"Eric," I sighed in happy relief.

His lips quirked in gentle provocation at the sound, and suddenly I just knew it wasn't for the dress, that the dress wouldn't have mattered at all on me coming here, it was just us, just us and this crazy lil' thing we had going on.

Eric Northman wanted me for myself even more than he wanted me for dinner.

I smiled my love hugely at him, and he grinned back just as bright. My heart flooded with warmth at the sight, my body flushed with heat, my mind grateful that we could share at least this type of sunshine.

"Pamela, see to things."

"Sheriff."

I followed him back out the club into the muggy night, and our strides fell to an easy suit.

We didn't speak on the drive.

We didn't have a need to.

When the car purred off again Eric blurred out and around to yank my door open, then up the steps into the house. I followed blissfully after like I was on a happy string, gliding up steps, drifting through the kitchen, floating down the hall to the bedroom. I brushed past him where he stood in the doorframe and stared down at his bed with a rabid pulse and a wondrous heart. He came up behind me, keeping that careful electric distance, saying all the while, this is yours, this is yours to choose. I closed my eyes, leaned back to him and wound an arm up around his neck.

"What are you wearing for me tonight, Miss Stackhouse?"

His voice was darkly tender as his nose slid from my jaw to my temple, his deep breath feathering my hair along the way.

"Sunshine and sex and something… else."

I shuddered out a breath, but the words just weren't coming. Twenty-five years holding on to unwanted secrets, but I couldn't give up this invited one. It was too precious, it was too new and too raw. I couldn't, I just couldn't say this, I couldn't even breathe it. I could only feel until all that I was feeling, and all that I was, was Eric.

"Sookie."

My name came out sounding like some sort of violent candy, dark on the drawl, sweet on the intent. His hands flexed on my shoulders, skimmed down my sides to mould my hips, fitting me back to his hardness. His fingertips skimmed my thighs, and I trembled. I felt his fingers curl, felt him raise the fabric in a slow tease, tugging it up, higher, higher, until I was forced to release his neck and let him pull it up over my head. His forearm crossed over my naked ribs, his big hand curved around my back and spun me around to face him. His breath came out in a violent hiss, and my eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Just the sight of you threatens my restraint." His hand slid up my throat, flexed once dangerously at my rabbiting pulse before going on to tenderly cradle my chin in his palm in a miracle of contrasts.

"Eric," I whispered longingly.

"Patience, my Sookie," he murmured back, big hands sliding up my back to unsnap my bra, then up to my shoulders to tug it the rest of the way off. He groaned like a dying man on seeing my breasts. His hands came up to cup them worshipfully, palms weighing them lovingly, fingers kneading them teasingly.

"Your body is gift, a tribute to an artisan god."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd believed in god," I managed breathlessly as his fingers began a slow slid down towards my panties.

"I've lived too long not to," he said simply, giving me a boyishly playful smile just before dipping down into uncharted depths.

It didn't take me more than a moment to discover that Eric Northman has deliciously long and craftily tipped fingers. When my legs were jellied enough for toast, he began walking me backwards, kissing me all the while. I went blindly back until my thighs hit the bed, bracing myself on his forearms as he lifted me by the hips as easily as if I were a doll. I tried bringing him with me as he slid me over the comforter and into a mountain of pillows, but he shook his head.

"Lie back," he said softly.

I watched hungrily as his fingers popped the button on his jeans, listened greedily as his zipper hissed down. My eyes went globally wide on the proud, naked sight of him. I'd known he was endowed from my little lap session, but this… Good Gracious Plenty! I blew out a breath that was only halfway lustful.

"I think that may be the scariest thing about you," I joked nervously.

The words had no sooner left my lips then he blurred up onto the bed and flashed to a stop over top me.

"I will not hurt you," he whispered against my mouth, and I nearly went cross eyed drawing on the reassurance in his eyes.

He began slowly lowering himself down to me, and I arched instinctively upwards, legs widening to invite him closer. My hands slid up from his waist to the firm lines of his back, my nipples tightened on making contact with his hard chest. His kissed with wicked softness along my jaw, and tender hunger along my throat, dragging his hard body intimately down the soft length of mine.

I watched him working his way down with terrific patience, tasting and working his hands just so here, and just so there, until my body was built up from desperate lust into insane need. When he reached my lower belly, spreading my knees and lowering his face even further to inhale deep, my eyes started to slide close, but Eric was having none of it.

"No," he commanded. His fingers bit into the flesh of my thighs, hard enough to hurt, soft enough to please. "This time you watch."

I locked into his gleaming eyes even as his fingers parted me, even as his mouth touched my lower lips, as his tongue slid into my trembling self. This was softer, so much softer than the night before, and deeper all the same. He stared into me as he tasted, as he took for the giving and sent me flying out of my skin. And when I gave my final cry, when my fingers were digging into his shoulders as I shuddered down into perfect madness, he yanked his head sideways and pressed his fangs tenderly into the flesh of my thigh.

I barely moved as he came back up and settled over me again, but on the full weight of him my trembling arms wrapped up and around his cool back.

"Liquid sunshine," he murmured on lowering his mouth to mine. I threw myself into it, tasting the leftovers of our madness. He rocked into me intimately all the while, teasing but stopping just short of the final give. I yanked back finally, gone past all shame.

"Eric," I begged. "Please, please, I can't take this…"

He laughed gently at that, cupping my hips and angling us even closer together. My eyes flashed downwards, but he stole my mouth and kissed me back out of focus.

"You will look at me, lover," he commanded softly.

How could I not? His eyes were so intimate, all gentle humor and bridled hunger as he pushed into me, as I stretched for him. I dug my needy fingers into his arms to pull him closer, and his eyes grew darker, his muscles bunching and coiling under my desperate grip. I gave a little cry as he flexed through my innocence, but it was more for the joy of belonging then the pain of surrender. A shudder ran through him on coming to my end, and when he stopped there I frustrated my nails into his shoulders.

"Sookie…"

"Don't you dare quit!"

A beautifully wicked smile lit over his face, and one of his big hands slid under my knee to hitch me even closer. He began stroking slowly, working me gently wetter until my hips began to roll urgently to meet his. Again it seemed, again and again would he take me to this place where words lost sense and my heart felt near to bursting for the feelings.

"Eric!" I sobbed, clawing at his shoulders, burying my face in his chest.

"You are mine," he growled fervently into my throat.

"Yes! For always, for always I am yours!"

He bit deep on the promise, and reacting off some sort of hazy instinct, I bit back. I heard Eric growl wetly on my blood even as I tasted copper and sweet off him. Greedy for his taste, for more even then what he was giving me now, I pulled hard once on the already shrinking wound. His control snapped. His fingers bruised into my flesh, his hips hammered me across the bed and back down into that blissful darkness.

"Eric!"

His fangs ripped out of my throat, his head flew back and he roared something foreign before following me over the edge.

I lay flat on my back with my hands buried in his hair and stared up at the ceiling wondering if it was sinful to hope for such joys in heaven. And I wasn't alone for thinking it'd been miraculous, it seemed.

"Perfect," he murmured, marking his face back and forth between my sweat slicked breasts. "Beautifully perfect."

Yes, I thought over the sound of my thrumming heart beat. It sure enough had been.

But Eric wasn't finished with me. He lifted up and flicked his long fingers over my flushed cheekbone before flashing back down between my legs. I stared down at him, bewitched senseless off seeing his sensual beauty, on feeling his silky hair brush the insides of my thighs and his fingers tighten possessively over my hips.

"Watch," he demanded again, and then he lowered his face and began to clean me with his tongue in long, sure strokes, licking up the wetness we had made together. My legs were still trembling violently from aftershocks, my thighs pressing against the sides of his face. He teased my swollen flesh with his lips, with impossibly quick flicks of his tongue, and the blunt edge of his teeth, his expression ferocious. I was gasping, fingernails biting into my palms, hips bucking wildly; only his broad hands on my hips kept me pinned to the bed. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, that it was too much, pleasure so intense it edged on painful, I felt another orgasm slam through me. I threw my head back and screamed.

He was waiting for me when I came down, a devilish, cat-ate-the-canary expression on his face. My legs were violently trembling, and I stretched them out, shoving out a long, careful breath, unable to speak.

"So, my luscious lover, was it all you expected?" he teased coyly.

"No," I said on account of my post-lust brain drain.

"No?" he scowled viciously, and I plowed a playful fist into his stomach. It was like hitting flesh covered brick.

"Jeez, Eric. You could scare John Carpenter with that face. And no it wasn't what I expected, because I never expected it at all."

He dropped instantly into consideration, studying my face like he was searching for the mystery of the sphinx.

"I am sorry you suffered for the stupidity of men, but I am grateful for the resultant gift."

He lifted my hand in his and tenderly kissed my knuckles.

"It was well worth the wait," I ensured him enthusiastically, and his face flashed back to wicked.

"You weren't so very patient earlier."

"Time and place," I said primly, and he laughed outrageously.

"And this time had you screaming in my bed."

He wagged his eyebrows in lusty admiration and I groaned in superficial frustration.

"Do you think your neighbors heard me?" I asked, flames licking my face at the very thought. His house was on a generous lot, sure, but I've got healthy lungs.

"They would envy me if they could," he teased as I buried my face in a pillow. "But the walls are soundproof."

I lifted my head at that to look at his beautiful bed with more than a little envy of my own. In fact, just imagining him sharing it with another female made me feel downright hateful. I knew he hadn't had any human women here before, but there were more than a few beautiful female vamps at Fangtasia. My eyes narrowed on our tangled legs, and it was all I could do not to jerk away from what had seconds ago been the happiest moment of my life.

Eric seemed to immediately follow my train of thought.

"No," he said firmly. "You are the only one in my bed, my lover."

"Sure," I immediately agreed, my nervous smile yanking my lips skyward. But my eyes were down and hovering at damp.

"Look at me, Sookie." And because the words so closely mimicked our earlier passions, my eyes flashed to his face.

"I am a vampire, Sookie. It is not for chastity's sake that my walls are soundproof, and that, before you, this bed was little more than a coffin."

His blue eyes were gravely considerate, his words light to the tone.

"Okay, okay," I muttered, feeling more than a little stupid. "No need to get dramatic."

Eric merely raised a pale eyebrow.

"Okay, so maybe there was. Thank you, Eric," I said, suddenly fierce. So he wasn't a virgin, but he had delivered me from being one on virgin ground. Err, mattress. We'd both gifted each other with firsts.

"You are most welcome, my lover. Always, you are most welcome."

Not 'I love you' exactly, but when you live forever, I imagine always takes on a whole new meaning. I wanted desperately to share my own newfound love with him, but cross-eyed pleasure or not, I just wasn't ready for a one-sided dose of three words.

Okay, enough with the heavy, I decided. Time to shift to safer ground. I shoved up on my elbows and stared down into his golden warrior's face.

"So why the bar business?" I asked. His lips slid up into Cheshire lines, and one big palm swept from up from my navel to cup my chin. I nearly went cross-eyed with the aftershocks.

"I could ask you the same, my most delicious barmaid."

There was a lightness to him now, an innocence it seemed even a thousand years couldn't kill.

"You first," I managed as he pressed his thumb to the corner of my mouth, then followed it with a tender kiss.

"There are several practical reasons for the venture. Money, for one, though after all these years my money practically makes itself. Access to quick meals-"

I glared at that, but he pushed on.

"-as True Blood tastes rather like burnt pennies must and fails to totally eclipse the hunger." My nose wrinkled at that description.

"Why drink it at all then if you're still hungry?"

"It is a question of other… appetites. We are hunters, understand. Without the hunt, the belly is full, but the hunger… The hunger cannot be so easily tamed."

"Like lions in the zoo."

"Exactly so," he said, looking entirely too pleased with the metaphor. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Jeez, don't look so shocked."

"I am not shocked. I am just unused to a human being so perceptive. Especially one so young."

"Well, I end up hearing more than most," I shrugged.

"Yes," he said. "But it is more than that. You are discerning as well, able to separate what is presented from what is. You would have long ago gone mad if you could not."

"Lucky me," I breezed, trying not to think about all the times just such an outcome had seemed eventual. He considered me for a minute before continuing.

"And you are a sympathetic soul, I think. Your mind is a vault, and your heart a hearth." He pressed his hand over my left breast in a tender salute. My nipple quickened just as instinctively as my discomfort.

"Knock it off," I said, squirming under his intense blue gaze.

"I think not. It will take much flattery, I think, to supplant the cruelties of Bon Temps' myriad fools." Thank the Lord for Word of the Day calendars, I thought wryly as my Viking's speech slipped a century or so.

"Tell me another one," I insisted, trying to get us back on subject.

"You are a masterpiece made flesh," he said immediately with a cobalt twinkle. I smothered my giggle and swatted rather pointlessly at his stone shoulder.

"No, goof. Another reason. About the bar?"

"Goof?" he said with mock chagrin. "I have celebrated four digits in birthdays and you call me _goof_? Incredible!"

"Eric!"

"Fine, fine... I suppose the most important reason was the entertainment value a bar offers."

"Dinner and a show?" I said coyly, and his eyebrows wagged.

"So very astute, my lover. Humans rarely surprise me anymore, but that doesn't stop me from looking for the surprise. And finding it."

His hand drifted lower as he spoke, and it seemed my body took his fingers rather than being taken by them.

"Encore?" I gasped as his deft fingers hooked inside me, rolling my greedy hips brazenly towards him. It seemed I was not as modest as I had so long lectured myself I into being.

"Primetime always," he purred correctively.

Then true to his words, he set about showing me just how fantastic always promised to be.

* * *

_Your reviews are frequently the brightest part of my life, and even if I haven't responded, I promise you I read them with much love._

_Also, a little note on continuity. At this point in the story, Sookie has had Eric's blood twice: once when he 'accidentally' bit himself when he was kissing her in Merlotte's, and once when she bit him during sex. Just to clarify..._

_Next up on Second Chances… Eric makes a confession, Sookie considers ordering a hit, Bruce makes time with Ginger, Longshadow gets stupid, Alcide eats eggs, and Sookie's beleaguered car gets the boot…_


	12. Chapter 12

**12- Down for a Count and Up for a Game**

* * *

There's things in life that stick with you. The first time you tie your own shoelaces, the first time you knock one out of the park to loaded bases, the first time a boy kisses you (the handsomely awkward JD du Rone at senior prom), the first time you make love with the vamp you love.

The nightmarish first time your funny uncle puts hands on you in ways he shouldn't.

I was bending over sliding on my ballet flats when I had a memory of the last so strong I had to sit back down on the bed.

"What's wrong, lover?"

Eric's big hands were sliding tenderly over my back and up to cup my shoulders. I leaned back into him desperately, trying my hardest not to tremble off another remembered touch.

"You are shaking." Apparently I had failed.

He sounded stuck somewhere between perplexed and pissed, and I felt the tension behind his palms as he turned me to face him. I could feel the heat of his eyes but was cowardly enough to not want to meet them directly.

"You are afraid."

He sounded appalled now, and not a little unsure. My eyes flashed up to his, and the unreasonable guilt I saw there had me scrambling to find the right words for my sordid thoughts.

"It's not you," I assured him, raising up a hand to cup his cool cheek. "If anything you make me feel braver about life, like I can face anything."

The words seemed to settle him; the touch of his skin definitely settled me.

"But there is something, and it is no small thing."

I choked up on the gentleness offered, and the cruelty remembered. I studied Eric's concerned face intently as I searched for my tongue. Was I going to do this? Was I going to tell my thousand-year-old killer of a lover that my Uncle Bartlett had molested me? Could I even find the courage to put the words to air?

But weren't they here already, polluting the space between us? My family skeleton shoving its way out of the closet into the bed I had just shared with the vampire I loved? A vampire Hadley had assured me would murder on my behalf.

"You have to promise to keep off the violence unless I give the say so."

The monster flashed behind Eric's eyes on the words, but was tamed down just as fast.

"I think you need to tell me what this is about, my Sookie," he said softly. His blue irises were glowing with a persuasion that I easily ignored.

"Promise first," I insisted. He was not getting the runaround on something as important as this.

"I swear it," he said, lifting both my hands up in his big palms and raising my knuckles to his mouth. There was ferocity in his voice on the promise, and tenderness to the touch on the kiss.

"Okay then." I took a huge breath.

"I had a… funny uncle."

The silence after was full of the violence of Eric's understanding.

"I do not have to kill him."

Eric sounded grimly possessed, and there was no missing the emphasis on 'have.' His body was coldly absent of life, and I found the sight far more terrifying than I would have a tensed fist. Death was threatening, if not at me, then for me. How strange that I took it as a comfort. How bizarre that I felt my tension slipping away under the deadly weight of his lifeless palms on my thighs.

"Believe me, Eric, I am tempted." I hesitated. "But he's my uncle by birth if not by acknowledgment."

"You waste your generosity of spirit on such a creature." His tone was violently venomous on the last word.

"There is nothing generous in me at all towards him," I corrected softly. "If I'd courage enough I'd see him buried myself. But I refuse to go compromising the better parts of myself on him. The payback isn't worth what my soul's sure to pay."

Eric was doing some intense mental juggling off that last statement. I could see it even for his dead expression as he watched me, and when he spoke again he didn't disappoint.

"Sookie, I am used to riding herd on monsters. This… blood relative of yours is no exception."

"What does that even mean?"

Eric's own monster refilled his eyes with a quiet vengeance, and the words that followed sounded all the scarier for their softness.

"It means I can make it so he survives the rest of his pathetic existence with nightmares tormenting him."

I was quiet for a long while. It wasn't the kind of silence that's full of hard thinking, but of trying desperately not to. Years of suppressed memories, years of denied pain, years of unrecognized rage.

Eventually Eric took the choice from me.

"I will hurt him. The degree is up to you." There would be no negotiating with the vengeance I saw in his eyes, and no squashing the relief I felt reflected in my own.

"Nightmares will do," I decided with grateful reluctance. "I just couldn't order a man to death, no matter his sins."

"I could," he threatened softly, eyes glowing like a vamp hell bent on a crusade of cruelty. "Especially given the survivor of the sins."

Not victim, but survivor. A simple choice of meaning that meant everything.

I almost told him then. That I loved him, that my whole world had shifted with him as the focus. The words were like to fall off my tongue, my mouth was so brimming with them, but something stopped me. Some tiny part of me that warned he'd count the words among his possessions rather than hold them in his heart. Not yet, it whispered. Not just yet.

So I kissed him instead, and willed him to feel my unspoken truth. His hands tightened in my hair in response, then softened to tender in a flash. He cradled me in his lap like an oversized doll, soothing away my tension with his skillful hands, erasing the nasty aftertaste of my confession with the sweet solace of his mouth.

"Okay," I breathed after, smiling senselessly into his beautiful glowing face. I just wasn't going to think about Uncle Bartlett anymore, not even to feel satisfaction for whatever hell Eric would wreck his way. I had a job to do, and the night wasn't going to get any longer on my account.

"Give me five minutes."

I dashed off to the bathroom to wash up and fix my makeup, though from the glow I saw in the mirror I could have gone without the latter.

"We do not have to go back to Fangtasia," Eric said carefully when I came back, his eyes roaming over me in a bizarre cocktail of considerate lust.

"Of course we do," I disagreed passionately to vent my response to the Look. I had been appalling disappointed on coming back and finding him dressed.

"You're paying me a miraculous fortune for using my brain, and I refuse to let some nasty black memories spoil it. Besides the fact, all your people are gonna start wondering whether I'm yours or using you."

"I am sheriff," he said haughtily. "They do as I say, and wonder as I allow them."

Was this to be something else I loved about him? His complete ability to ignore the concerns of others if they didn't matter to him? Honor by degrees, I supposed, and a certain haughtiness, but I couldn't deny that I rather liked his significant attention to my comfort and pleasures. Even if it meant the frequent exclusion of the rest of the world. Truth be told, maybe especially then.

"Sure," I agreed with a sugary false sincerity that sent his eyebrow twitching. "But we're going."

Eric's eyebrow popped devilishly at the declaration, but he followed me out of the room and down into the kitchen. The garage door was still open as Eric had left it, and there was a yellowing hatchback parked to one side of the driveway when we got outside.

"Looks like my car made it," I said with no little irony as Eric flashed opened the door to the corvette. I ignored the scathing glance he cast its way as I slid into the leather bucket seat. It was hard not to note the contrasts to my own when it sat nearby looking so bereft of life.

"Hadley called and informed me your Gran ordered you to go car shopping tomorrow," Eric said when we were pulling out of his community.

He drove like he made love, I thought whimsically. With absolute focus, supremely confident hands and no wasted motions. I stared at his fingers sliding along the steering column as he made the turn, and it was like looking at a recipe for perfection. I sighed and watched his wide blue eyes shift to mine on a knowing smirk.

"I wouldn't say ordered so much as strongly suggested," I murmured as he stole my hand onto his lap before shifting down into fourth.

Eric made a noncommittal sound that bore a remarkable resemblance to snickering.

"Just hush, you," I scolded, slapping playfully at his thigh.

"I am not judging. My own mormor was also a woman to be obeyed. Even my father the chieftain was loathe to cross her."

As openings go, this was a convenient one.

"So your throne I saw you on at Fangtasia was like inherited, and not just for show?"

"The position would have been inherited on my father's death, yes, but I was made vampire first. Why do you ask?"

"I noticed the platform was missing is all."

I shifted uncomfortably in his seat as I flashed back on my earlier unease on realizing he'd removed it for my sake. The discomfort was even greater now I knew it truly was his throne, and not just some showcase statement piece.

"Ah," he said with great satisfaction, as if I had just solved some great puzzle for him.

"Ah?" I prodded.

"I… sensed in the club that you were feeling at odds."

"Sensed?" I was starting to get an uneasy feeling that Eric was keeping a deliberately open secret from me.

"You have had my blood," he hedged.

"And that's like an emotion detector or something?"

"It allows me to sense your emotions, yes, as well as your wellbeing and your location. And allows you to sense mine as well," he added as generously as one might a diamond tennis bracelet. I almost wished it had been, so I'd have had something to throw in his smug face. I'd bitten Eric during sex, but that had been after Fangtasia. The first time I'd tasted his blood had been when I'd kissed him in my booth in Merlotte's. Right after I'd told him a vampire hating serial killer might be after me. Which meant…

"So in Merlotte's, when you bit your tongue…"

I trailed off on the actualization. His face said it all. I should have known, really I should have, because what vampire worth his salt accidentally bites anything? Especially himself. Mr. High-handed vamp had struck again, and my temper was gearing up for some striking of its own.

"Let's go with calculated impulsivity," he said as we were pulling into Fangtasia's parking lot.

"Only if you're okay with being downgraded to qualified mistrust," I snapped on snatching my hand back from his lap. "It's an invasion of my privacy, Eric, and you did it all the same."

"You did not hear me complaining when you bit me during sex," he purred pissily.

"You liked it!" I hissed heatedly.

"I loved it, but the 'invasion' goes both ways Ms. Stackhouse."

"Last time I checked you were my boyfriend, not Big Brother."

Eric quirked his brow snottily at that before sliding out of the car. I followed with a vengeance.

"I swear to God, Eric Northman," I warned savagely on slamming shut his door. "Cock your eyebrows at me just one more time over this and I will shave them off while you are dead for the day."

"They will only grow back." His cockily handsome face lacked any concern over my threat.

"Well then they're a safe bet for my fury," I hissed. "I mean… This is just… The gall Eric! Did you even think about how I would feel?"

"You would not be feeling anything if you were a corpse," he disclaimed arrogantly.

A pig's eye if I was going to let that slide on an excuse out of his dead mouth.

"Is that so? Well what the hell are we even doing here then?"

Eric began muttering at me fiercely in some guttural language, eyes glowing like possessed sapphires under the parking lot lamp.

"Uh uh buddy," I gritted, jabbing him in his stone chest as I glared right on back. "Don't you even think about shouting at me unless it's in English!"

"I will not risk you!"

My own tumultuous emotions aside, there was no mistaking the fear and frustration rolling off Eric as he glared down at me. We stood toe to toe, defiantly vulnerable vampire, determinedly hardheaded human, desperately exchanging cross-fire over the same point. But it was an important point, damn it. I would not compromise on my independence, not to this degree, not even for safety's sake.

"Am I interrupting?"

"No," I ground out even as Eric boomed "Yes!"

"Well then." Pam's sultry drawl came out silky with humor.

Eric hissed at her in foreign fury. She merely popped an elegant brow.

"I'll just go tell the others it'll be awhile longer."

"No!" I insisted with such force they both snapped around to look at me. I was pissed, by God, but I was bound and determined to be a professional. I had promised myself on signing his paperwork that I would not let my relationship with Eric interfere with my job, and if there was ever a promise I intended to stand by, it was this one. For both our sakes.

"I need to earn my keep," I said with forced calm.

Eric looked about ready to spit nails on that statement.

"Please Eric," I requested softly on gently squeezing his arm. "Let's just focus on business until cooler heads prevail."

"And then we will talk."

It almost sounded like a question rather than a command. I'll give him points on that. Maybe, just maybe, he knew he'd done wrong. Or maybe he just knew when to give on getting caught. I scowled at the back of his perfectly lovely butt as he took long strides into the employee entrance of the club.

"So… how did it go?" Pam asked coyly as we fell in behind him.

"Oh, just fine. Amazing. Fireworks like fucking Fourth of July. 'Til he let slip that he'd tricked me into drinking his blood." My own was still boiling on the knowledge.

There was a considering pause.

"Did he?"

I slid my gaze sideways. Pam was studying me with intense curiosity, her normal smirk dimmed to a smile that was almost… worried? Surely not. Eric could most definitely take care of himself.

"What… that's not like, a thing?"

"Not a common one. Blood bonds are permanent. Humans are not."

Well, that sure had snapped the wind out my sails of fury. I followed her through the back door of Fangtasia feeling like someone had smacked me between the eyes with a mallet.

"-will start in the office," Sheriff Northman was ordering as we came in. "Bruce first, then Ginger."

"That human is never where I leave her," Pam drawled irritatedly on reaching Eric's side. There were a couple of other vampires milling around, sprinkled with a small assortment of humans. I was guessing Ginger wasn't among them.

"The accountant, either," Longshadow said as he lifted a couple of True Bloods from the microwave and set them on the bar. Eric ignored his, much as he was ignoring me. I could feel a tic starting in my left eye off struggling not glare him to the true death.

"Chow," demanded Sheriff Northman.

A tall, slender Asian vampire shrugged off the wall and glided forwarded. He was covered in what I took to be Yakuza tattoos, and extremely handsome in the face. Great. Yet another sexy Supe. I was sure to get a complex if this kept up.

"Sheriff," he graveled on inclining his head.

"Search the premises for the barmaid and the accountant, then meet us in the office."

"I'll just go check the ladies' room," I offered. I wanted a minute or two away from Eric's cool-eyed stonewalling anyways.

I spun out of the room to Pam slinging scolding sounds at Eric in rapid fire foreign. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought he was acting like a jerk off. I pushed into the bathroom with a satisfied smile, and stopped immediately in my tracks. I'd have recognized the noises coming out of the stall even if I'd still been a virgin. Grunts, groans, moist slapping flesh. It sure felt better than it sounded, I now knew, but still... Ugh.

"Jesus, Ginger!"

My eyebrows sky rocketed over the desperately needy tone. I heard a high-pitched giggle, then, "Oh, Bruce."

Well, two for the price of one, it seemed. I cleared my throat dramatically, and the noise fell to a nervous silence. I could hear their brains working overtime hoping I wasn't Pam or worse, Eric.

_Shit! Shit! He'll never fuck me now!_

Ginger was a nastily loud broadcaster.

"Y'all two are needed in the office," I said in as circumspect a voice as I could manage. I heard nervous fumbling and hasty zippers and shuffling clothes.

_Must be Eric's new consultant. Oh God I hope she doesn't tell him. I'm already in deep over the missing money as it is. Who the fuck would steal from a vamp anyway? What kind of suicidal stupid would you have to be to risk it?_

Bruce the accountant was terrified with it back in his pants, and I couldn't help feeling a touch of sympathy now that I knew he was innocent.

"I'll just go tell Eric you're making a call."

I fled the bathroom on mental waves of gratitude.

I walked into the office with blushing cheeks that turned crimson on seeing Eric stretched out off the edge of his desk, long legs spread out in what shouldn't have looked like an invitation for the cool expression on his face. But this was the man who had just rung about a half dozen orgasms out of me not an hour earlier, and my body hadn't quite caught up on the difference. I watched his nostrils flare even as his eyes lit with lust.

Now that I was aware of our blood connection, I recognized the sensations pulsing at me. Desire dark enough to be called craving, and tender enough to be named thrall. I couldn't help feeling a bit smug over holding such power over such a power. I walked towards him high on it, and his blue eyes snapped briefly with humor before he reached out his hand and flitted his fingertips over my cheek. Love washed through me on the gesture, drowning out the last vestiges of my anger, and I sighed out loud for us both.

"Ms. Stackhouse," he lilted on understanding, and I took my place by his side.

"It wasn't Bruce," I said as I leaned against his hip. He remained the stoic faced business vamp, but I could feel the comfortable affection renewed between us.

"You are certain?"

"As I can be without actually having seen the money lifted. I listened in on him while he was… making a phone call."

I was certain Eric felt my embarrassment on the lie, but as he left it alone it was quickly replaced by gratitude. Maybe we could work through this whole no emotional privacy thing after all. Bruce and Ginger came in after that thought, Ginger on a slutty strut, Bruce on a sheepish shuffle. I watched Eric's nostrils flare briefly, and felt ridiculous for even trying to lie for them. Sheriff Northman didn't miss a trick, coming or going.

"Go home to your wife, Bruce," Eric dismissed immediately, and Bruce recoiled as if he'd been slapped. His gaze bounced desperately between us, and I shook my head more in censure than denial. Not that I really cared. It served him right to be caught when he had a waiting wife tending the home fires.

Longshadow pushed off the wall with popped fangs and an incensed glare.

"You'd trust a human to clear the fat one?"

"My Sookie is a telepath of considerable skill." My name came out sounding erotically competent for his possessive pride. There was no missing the threat lingering in the air as Eric stared pointedly at Longshadow's fangs. There was a flash second hesitance, and then Longshadow's lips snapped dramatically shut over his blunt-edged teeth.

Sheriff Northman walked softly and carried a big damn stick.

"Ginger, you sit."

She was smirking as she strutted over and tossed herself into the seat in front of Eric, crossing her legs provocatively enough to flash unders. Eric ignored her, so I decided to do the same. I sat in the chair across from her and reached for her wrist to bring the signal in better. She snatched it immediately back.

"Don'tcha fucking touch me," she sneered.

_Freaky fucking whore._

My lips convulsed in humor more than hurt. Considering her hands had just been down the pants of Bruce the Adulterer Accountant, I really didn't give two hoots on her personal opinion of me. Nor did I want to touch her. But I had a job to do.

I reached for her again, and she started to get out of the chair.

"Pam," Sheriff Northman intoned, sounding bored with irritation. She was over by Ginger in a flash, yanking her arms out towards me by the wrists. I circled the left one quickly with my fingers, wanting to get this over and done with fast.

"Did you steal $60,000 from Fangtasia's books?"

"'Course not."

Truth, though I did catch an image of her lifting a pair of black panties out of the gift store. I gave it a pass for now.

"Do you know who did?"

"No."

It wasn't a lie, exactly, but there was enough uncertainty in her brain to have me rooting further. She knew something, I was sure. I peered deeper inside her head and found a wall of static.

"There's like a- a buzzing blank spot. Like a TV on a bad signal."

"Glamour," Pam said. Boy did she sound pissed, and I was getting enough off Eric to know she wasn't the only one. Glamour could only mean a vampire was behind the theft, or at least involved in it. Humans might have twitched on the implication; the vampires had gone still to death. I glanced my way around their faces and found them all lifeless on guarding their graves. I sure never wanted to play poker with this crowd.

So where did that leave us? Anyone stupid enough to steal from Eric must have slipped up somewhere. I did some quick mental juggling, and nodded my head at Pam to release Ginger.

"Bring in her closest co-worker." I was relatively certain Ginger didn't have many of what you might call friends.

Belinda the waitress looked weary for waiting, but she had enough juice left to smile blinding adoration at Eric. Her mouth was a full bordering on vulgar, and offset rather intriguingly by round tortoiseshell glasses. There was a pair of oversized fang marks painted garishly on her neck, and several real ones peeking out below the collar of her gothic shift dress. I'd have gotten a nose bleed standing in the black platform boots she was wearing.

"Master," she breathed respectfully. I shot Eric a look and felt more than saw his lips twitch with humorous disdain.

She sat immediately when Eric commanded her to and didn't make a fuss when I reached for her wrist. Fan girl fawning aside, I was liking her already.

"What vamp was Ginger seeing?"

"Anyone that would have her," she blurted out bluntly.

My lips jerked a nervous notch higher off first-hand knowledge of that statement.

"Any vamp in particular?"

"Um, there was a trucker out of Reston a few months back. But lately…" She trailed off for preservation's sake, but I saw his face even without the words.

My gaze flew to Longshadow, but he wasn't where my eyes had last left him.

Nope, he was much closer indeed.

I threw up my arm in desperate defense, even as I went flying back out of the chair. We hit the floor with a violence that had my skull smacking hard enough to shock me momentarily blind. So I didn't see when Longshadow tore into me, but Lord help me, did I ever feel it. It was like getting ripped open by flame-edged razorblades. I screamed on the contact, and by the end note I was gurgling on goo.

It took a couple seconds, but as I lay on the floor listening to the shriek and clatter of Belinda's runaway heels it dawned on me that I was not, as the situation should have merited, dead. I looked up through the stringy, bloody mess that used to be Longshadow to see Eric standing over me with a hammer, a stake, and a murderous expression.

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Only one person in the room was breathing, and she was sure grateful of the fact.

I struggled painfully to my feet. Nobody offered to help, not even Eric, but given the way they all stood staring at me with horrific hunger in their eyes, I was sure grateful for that fact as well. I couldn't even imagine what I looked like to them, soaked to the skin in blood and flakey bits of my would-be murderer. Like a gravy-soaked biscuit to a fat man coming off a fast.

"Pride goeth before the staking," I managed with hurtful humor as I cradled my chewed up arm to my chest. Good jolly jeez, did it ever hurt.

"He bled into you."

Eric sounded more than a little pissed at the fact. Even with the violent tension running the room, I couldn't help myself for wanting to comfort him.

"You taste better," I assured him, stretching a bloody hand up to stroke through his long hair.

His eyes went even darker at my touch, but for a whole different shade of reason.

"Out," he commanded to the room at large, and I saw firsthand just how fast Sheriff Northman's vampires move to orders.

"I want you," he said in a dangerously dead tone.

"Eric," I soothed cautiously. "I'm hurt." I glanced sorrowfully down the bloody front of my once pretty dress.

"And gross."

"It is healing," he said on ignoring the gruesome state of my ensemble.

"Huh," I said, staring down at my arm. Already the bite was looking a little less vicious.

"How's that even possible?"

"It is a benefit of my blood."

"Some benefit," I murmured, staring down into the shredded mess of my arm. I swear I could practically see it healing itself. Fascinating. Maybe if it tilted my head just a little to the left…

"I can heal you the rest of the way but there will be other… side effects."

I glanced up from my macabre fascination at that.

"Like what?"

"Our attraction will grow stronger off every drop." I gave him a long sideways look. Even the pain in my mauled arm couldn't stop the rising tide of lust.

"I can't see how that's even possible."

"Perhaps not, but if you drink any more of my blood you will be able to feel it."

"First aid aphrodisiac," I muttered, thinking hard. I'd have to be a crazy person not to question how fast this was all happening. Pam had told me a blood bond was permanent, and Eric had just told me it could only get more intense with further exchange.

I had a sudden notion painful enough to shove my savaged arm from agony to ache.

"Eric, what all I'm feeling for you…" I hesitated. "My emotions are still mine, right?"

This was as close as tonight was going to take me to a heart's confession.

"It is a sharing, not a possession," he answered softly. Sheriff Northman had slipped his stoic veneer, and the vamp facing me was a creature of uncertain passions. I could feel his apprehension, his almost hurt over my hesitation. More importantly, I could see it on his face, and staring at him, I knew all over again.

I loved Eric. All of Eric, from high-handed vamp to stoic sheriff, to lavish lover. If we'd have been on a traditional path, if we'd have been cruising along towards marriage, eventually I'd have been wearing his ring and carrying a vow 'til death do us part. What difference was there between a blood tie and a paper one? Not much where I was sitting. But we weren't traditional on account of neither one of us being ordinary, and our relationship was bound to reflect that fact.

"Yes."

His bloody wrist was at my mouth in a flash, his hand was up my skirt in a rush. My underwear was shredded, my arm was stitched, and then he was shoving inside me, and he was big enough that my insides had to stretch for the motion. I bucked at the sensation, clawed at his shoulders through his t-shirt, and he grabbed my hair and buried his face in it. I could feel the tendons of his neck straining on the inside flesh of my left forearm, as hard as what he'd planted inside of me.

"Sookie," he begged when I squirmed beneath him. "A moment."

"No," I said, and sank my teeth into the side of his throat. He roared to life, jerking my arms over my head and pounding me back into the wall with a ferocity offset by the wondrous sound of my name coming shaky off his lips. I should have broken for it, it was so brutally intense, and when he sank fangs into the underside of my arm, I did.

But Eric wasn't even close. He knocked me higher three more times, forcing my face around by the hair so he could eye fuck me all the while during. He bored into me as my mouth gaped and gasped, as my lashes fluttered and fell, as my hips rocked like a cradle possessed. My blissed-out hands were sliding boneless from his waist before he finally exploded into me in a fierce fit of foreign sexy speak. I sagged in reluctant relief, my senseless face sliding down his chest and into the curve of his shoulder.

When I got my words back, there was only one possible thing to say.

"You definitely taste better," I sighed on licking my lips clean of sweet copper aftertaste.

At first I thought it a hiccup, the way his chest jumped spasmodically under my cheek. But then I felt the telling rumble, and once again I was holding happily on to my favorite Viking as he laughed himself to Valhalla and back.

"I need you," he said after with almost begrudging intensity. And since he was still buried inside me half-cocked off an orgasm that had near to blown off the top of my skull, I was pretty sure we weren't talking in the flesh.

I wrapped myself tighter around him and turned my face into the cool comfort of his neck. Tenderness filled me as I breathed him in, as I reflected on the irony of being necessary to such a dangerous creature. What was it I was giving him that no one else had? I wasn't sure, but it was his regardless.

"Well you have me," I said softly, stroking the sides of his face soothingly. "Any which way you need."

I felt him stirring on the words, his hands gripping tighter on my hips. His body rolled forward, and once again I was full of Eric. I made a sound of desperation, and he forced my head back by my hair.

"Can you?" he lilted softly, blue eyes glowing with provocative challenge.

"Try and stop me," I lilted right on back, arching myself into the wall of his chest.

He ended up doing a whole lot more than trying, and none of it had a thing to do with stopping.

* * *

At ten the next morning I was walking up to Alcide's truck with a dreamy smile and a steamy cup. I'd had a shower, three hours sleep and enough orgasms to make a porn star gloat.

It was the best morning of my life.

"Good morning," I beamed on handing Alcide his coffee.

"So I see." His clear green eyes did a quick visual inventory of my face as he accepted the cup.

"Thanks," he murmured over his first sip.

_Guess Northman's as good as they say._

"Better," I agreed devilishly, and surprised Alcide into scalding his tongue.

"Hungry?" I asked brightly around my lip twitching smile.

"I could use a bite," he said warily.

"Come on inside then and I'll fix you a plate."

I hummed as I whipped up scrambled eggs, thick sliced bacon and cheesy grits. I would have been singing like a sitcom morning after if I'd have had the pipes for it.

Then Alcide had to go open his mouth on a closed brain and spoil it.

"Cast iron, huh? I'd have expected high end Teflon for Northman."

"Well he knows me well enough to have bought me cast iron," I snapped back as I dumped Asswipe Alcide's eggs unceremoniously on his plate. "So eat and be grateful."

There were several moments of ear ringing silence before Alcide worked up the courage to speak again.

"That wasn't well said of me," he murmured apologetically.

"Might as well have called me second-rate goods," I scolded on slamming down his grits hard enough to splatter.

He winced on feeling, not for show, and it went a long ways to cooling my temper.

"I'm sorry," he said with obvious sincerity, and after several seconds of glaring him restless, I gave an accepting nod.

"Alrighty then."

"But I have to tell you, what I'm seeing between the two of you ain't exactly jibing with what I've seen of him before."

Alcide looked deadly serious over the statement, serious enough to send the hairs on the back of my neck prickling. He was warning me, I realized with perverse fondness.

But what Alcide didn't seem to understand, and what I was just getting close to, was that Eric would rather risk losing me than seeing me hurt. I'd had some time to think this morning after he'd gone to ground for the day. Eric had known when he'd given me his blood that I was going to be furious, maybe even furious enough to leave him over it, just as he'd known we'd remain connected regardless. He'd known, and he'd done it anyway for my sake. Just as he'd killed a vampire over me last night. It wasn't the missing money that had had Eric reaching for his stake. Eric had been pissed when he'd learned it was a vampire; I'd felt that well enough through our blood bond.

But pissed was paltry compared to what he'd felt when he'd seen Longshadow going for my throat.

"Maybe you weren't looking hard enough."

"I'm looking hard enough now," he said by way of disagreement. "And if Northman's got it in him to hold on to someone like you, I've got it in me to keep a hold of my prejudices."

"Nobody else gets to see him like I do," I murmured, dropping my eyes as I filled my own plate.

"It says something that he lets you," he said on shoveling up a mouthful of eggs, and I flashed him a grateful smile.

"Tastes great," he said around a blissful sigh.

"When's the last time someone cooked you homemade breakfast?"

"My ex wasn't exactly domestically thoughtful."

I caught a visual flash of bed tousled black hair and slumberous doe eyes belonging to none other than my best friend, and had a pretty good idea where Alcide had spent the remainder of last night.

I sat down at the table with my coffee and gave Alcide a motherly smile.

"So you and Tara, huh?"

"Yeah," he said with a sheepish gleam in his eye.

"She's been through it," I warned him. "You be good to her."

"Oh, I know. We talked for near on four hours last night. She's a hell of lady."

The fact that Alcide had called Tara a lady after what I'd gleaned of their sexcapades the night before made me think a whole lot higher of him.

"Well you certainly don't look worse for the wear off sleep."

"Weres have great stamina," he grinned roguishly.

"So do vamps," I shot back playfully.

He gave a good-humored smirk.

"So what's on the agenda today? More shopping?"

I winced dramatically.

"Shopping," I agreed with all the enthusiasm someone might dredge up for pulled teeth. "I promised my Gran I'd look into trading my car in."

"Well, at least it's cars this time. I can offer a thing or two more in that department."

"And by more, you mean besides teasing over sundries?"

"Besides," he agreed with a sheepish chuckle.

Forty-five minutes later we were pulling up at the dealership, Alcide in his pickup and me in my beleaguered little hatchback. Eric had left a recommendation for the place on what I was fondly beginning to consider 'my morning note.'

_My Lover,_

_Enjoy yourself today, as I promise you will enjoy yourself after dusk. Buy something saucy enough to make my corvette jealous._

_Yours,_

_E_

Eric wanted me to enjoy car shopping. I only wanted to enjoy Eric. I sighed senselessly as I turned off my engine, then got out to join Alcide in a walk towards the showroom.

"Wish I knew these guys more'n off reputation, but these aren't exactly my stomping grounds," he said as we were walking. He had matched his long stride to mine with surprising ease.

"You're not out of Shreveport?"

"Over the line in Jackson."

Jackson, Mississippi was about an hour drive off from Shreveport, and another forty-five minutes to my house.

"How'd you end up working for Eric then?"

"He's had some dealings with my pops," he said vaguely on opening the door to the dealership. He didn't say anymore, but I caught off the edges of his brain that his dad had some sort of gambling problem.

The air conditioning hit us like a cold fist, but it wasn't the temperature shock that had us staring wide-eyed at the little man plodding cheerfully towards us. He was five feet if he was an inch, a rolly polly fellow wearing a lime colored linen suit and a mad scientist smile. His thinning hair was sticking up in wispy tuffs over his gleaming scalp, and his tiny spectacles were tilting down his round nose at a precarious angle. His wing-tipped shoes were the color of ripe oranges, his tie was the color of a lemon drop. He looked like Benjamin Franklin overcome by citrus.

"Gosh," I whispered as he got closer.

Alcide grunted in startled response.

"Ms. Stackhouse!"

This greeting was offered with such enthusiasm that I had to fight the urge to turn around and search for someone more deserving.

"Um, yes," I responded tentatively, and the strange little man grabbed my hand and starting pumping away.

"I'm Bob Henderson. Mr. Northman called and told us to be expecting you today. We are simply delighted you've chosen Beauford Chrysler Dodge Shreveport for all your automotive needs!"

_Northman caught himself a hell of a beaut._

"Well Eric did tell me y'all were the best," I cheered more cooperatively, and the little man simply beamed.

"Mr. Northman is a valued client with highly discernible tastes."

I ignored Alcide as he smothered a not-so-discreet cough next to me.

"Now!" Bob slapped his hands together hard enough to make me jump and Alcide chuckle. I glared at Alcide with one eye and watched Bob briskly rub his hands together out the other.

"What precisely did you have in mind, Ms. Stackhouse?"

"Well…" I shrugged sheepishly. "I figured I'd know it when I saw it."

Uh oh, I thought on seeing the salesman's gleam enter the little man's eye. It seemed there was a bit of a shark lurking under the witless fashion sense. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one who caught it.

"Why don't you take us on a walk around and show us some of your best models?" Alcide interjected smoothly.

"'Course of 'course!" Bob the salesman chuckled before starting off in a jolly lope.

"Thank God you're here," I whispered to Alcide on the aside as we followed in Bob's happy wake.

"'Course of course," was his gravelly reply, and I elbowed him on principle more than pissiness.

Our first stop was a powder blue Cadillac with white out rims. Flecks of silver winked happily in the spring sunlight, and the chrome trim was bright enough to have me automatically readjusting my shades. My first thought was that Jason would have loved it.

My second thought was that I'd rather be dead than drive it, much less own it.

"How about her? Ain't she a beaut? MP3 dock, onboard On-Star, light proof trunk." Bob winked cheekily on that last remark.

"It's a little… blue… for my tastes," I finished weakly. Bob squinted at the Cadillac in a newly considering light, then gave a resounding nod that sent his jowls jiggling.

"It is at that! 'Course any model we have in stock can have the trunk modified to suit."

How bizarre was it that I was thinking light proof trunk while car shopping? I was starting to feel a bit dazed, and we were only on car one.

"It's not that bad," murmured Alcide in understanding as we walked on. "Just make a list as we go."

"A list?"

"Yeah. What amenities you want, color, perks, that sort of thing."

"Uh huh. You mean besides the light proof trunk?"

"Besides," he agreed, and we grinned at each other wildly.

An hour later, and my grin had wilted to dim under glazed eyes.

I had seen every car on the lot, it seemed, and most all of them matched the nature of our eccentric salesman. Quirky trade-in? Come see Beauford Chrysler Dodge Shreveport! The only thing I was even close to considering was a hybrid sedan that had been reduced on account of its leopard print paint job. The repaint was well worth the ticket markdown, Bob the salesman had assured me.

"I've got a friend or two that'd get a kick out of it as is," Alcide had said with enough tongue-in-cheek to have me giving him a hairy eyeball.

I'd sagged in relief when a pencil thin brunette came clunking out on Doc Martens to tell Bob he had a phone call.

"There's a lot to choose from," Alcide said sympathetically as we stepped inside for a drink break.

"I'm about to drain this bottle and spin it," I muttered mulishly over my bottled water, and Alcide chuckled merrily in response.

Bob came bopping back from his phone call just as I was finishing my drink, and though I was wore out I couldn't help but smile at his good cheer. Poor tastes aside, he really was the most adorable man.

"Well, I saved the best for last, I'll tell you."

Alcide and I exchanged a doubtful look.

"Mr. Northman had it earmarked for you, but wanted to make sure you got to see the rest first."

"He was here last night?" I asked, puzzled as we stepped back out into the heat. How had he ever managed to pull that off? We'd been together all evening, I'd thought.

"Two nights back," Bob explained patiently. "We have expanded nighttime hours to accommodate our expanding vampire clientele."

Two nights back. That meant that somewhere in between starting up our blood bond, grinding orgasms out of me in Merlotte's parking lot, assigning my round-the-clock bodyguards, and ordering his family throne off to the backroom for my sake, he'd also taken the time to stop by a car dealership and check out vehicles for me. I wondered idly if he'd called Gran or if Gran had called him, 'cause it had happened one way or the other. Of that I had no doubt.

I sighed in halfhearted frustration and full-hearted love.

Bob the salesman was staring at me with growing concern over his commission, and I brightened my smile to reassure him.

"Let's see it then," I agreed amiably, conceding to the inevitable.

"It really is the sweetest thing, and Mr. Northman figured it'd suit you to the ground."

We rounded the corner of the building and came to a collective stop in front of a happy-hued Jeep.

I didn't say anything at first. Just stared. If someone had bottled sunlight into a paint bucket, they couldn't have come any closer than this. The interior was white leather, the tires were fat and up to my chin. There was a sunflower bobble head planted on the dash and a yellow happy face bouncy ball hanging on a rope of the rearview mirror.

For the second time in two days, I had fallen madly in love.

"Mr. Northman said he knew it was the one on sight."

"Did he?" I murmured consideringly. Did he really know me so well already? And why was I even surprised? And what kind of world did I live in now where I got senselessly mauled by vamp thieves by night, then seduced senseless by vamp thoughtfulness on the morning-after? Happiness, I nickname thee inexplicable.

Bob the salesman, sensing an impending deal, was building up into his big pitch.

"The old widow Carter used to own it. A bit of an eccentric, but a lovely woman. Unfortunately she had her license pulled last week after a minor traffic incident-"

My horrified eyes flew over the exterior of my future car in a desperate search for damages.

"-Ran a red light," Bob the salesman finished hurriedly. "Or was it three?" he asked the air, drifting off on the question. Alcide and I both stared owlishly at him until he returned.

"Well, doesn't matter, I suppose. Her son's our best mechanic, and loves his Mama like nothing else."

I nodded understandingly under his expectant look.

"How much?" I murmured, sliding my loving gaze back to the car.

He rattled off a number that rattled my financially prudent bones.

"It's a bit pricey," I said over the lump in my throat. I could afford it now, no doubt about it, but should I? A vehicle was a tool, not a trinket.

"Seeing you now standing next to it, I can see what Mr. Northman meant when he said you'd suit." He picked up my hand and set it gently on the window frame of the Jeep. "You're both visions of happy light."

_And from the light she put in Northman's eyes, I'd say it shines off more than just her looks._

"Thank you, Mr. Henderson," I managed fervently around my complimentary shock.

"No need for that, dearie," he said gruffly on patting my hand. "I may be a salesman, but truth's on the house. Well now, you go on and think about it," he said, clearly knowing the wisdom of a salesman's retreat.

_Sweet as molasses with a face to match._

I stared after him, appalling close to tears over his unspoken kindness.

"You know," I said eventually. "People may say all sorts of nasty stuff about car salesmen, but I have to tell you it's nice to meet a person who's happy about my being associated with Eric. Tickled pink even, even if it is mostly on account of the sale."

I turned and looked up at a wary-faced Alcide. He brain was pulsing with agitation over the possibility of my crying. It seemed even Supe men had problems with wet-eyed females.

"You should hear all the sweet things he was thinking around the dollar signs."

"Has it really been all that bad?" Alcide asked gently enough to have me overlooking our earlier discriminatory breakfast discussion.

"You didn't grow up in a small town, did you?"

"No, and even if I had not many would have messed with me being as I'm a Herveaux."

"That must have been nice," I said wistfully, and he shrugged negligently.

"It had its moments, and its expectations."

He paused after speaking to study my face carefully.

"I can't imagine growing up with your gift would've been easy."

"No, but I'm starting to grow into it," I said, flashing back on my telepathy session the night before. Despite the vampire mauling, I had enjoyed the sense of fulfilled purpose I had woken up with this morning.

I turned back to the car with rueful eyes.

"I really should just go with the sedan," I said reluctantly.

"Is that what you want?" Alcide asked, reaching an oversized paw out to pat my lovely yellow Jeep.

"It's what I should want."

"It's not one and the same."

I glanced up at him consideringly on hearing his tone. Yup. We definitely weren't talking about just cars anymore.

"Definitely not," I agreed with a soft smile. "But some things you just know from the heart."

On that gentle admonishment, I turned back to the Jeep wishing I could part with money as easily as I did my affection. Why did it have to be so pretty and pleasant and all but wearing a sign that said 'Sookie's Ride?'

Mr. Henderson came waddling back over then wearing a hopeful smile.

"Made your decision?"

"I'm on a bobbed-wire fence," I admitted sorrowfully.

"Ah well…" Mr. Henderson was going a bit pink in the face as he rummaged his oversized pockets. Finally he made a victory 'A ha!' and pulled a familiar looking note out of his pocket.

"Mr. Northman told me to hand you this should you have a tough time making a decision in favor of this vehicle."

I took the paper with burning curiosity, noting absently it was still sealed.

_My Sookie,_

_Circumspect is for clothes, not cars._

_Buy the Jeep. Accept the tires._

_E_

"Tires?" I said stupidly over my melting insides. "What tires?"

"Mr. Northman most generously prepaid for a new set for the vehicle of your choice," said salesman Bob smoothly.

"I can't let him do that," I protested off instinctual pride.

Bob the messenger boy silently handed me another note. It had a giant P.S. scrawled on top. I tried to tell myself I was imagining the smug tilt to the letters as I was cracking the seal.

_I told the salesman if you declined the tires he would not receive a bonus._

Nope. Definitely not my imagination. Wasn't it just like him to blackmail me off my good nature?

"Mr. High-handed," I muttered in pissy affection as my fingers worried wrinkles into the paper's edge.

"Poor guy's got it bad," was all Alcide had to say.

I turned around and gave him a baffled look.

"'Poor guy'?" I drawled archly over his sudden change of heart.

Alcide gave a sympathetic nod.

"He bought you tires."

I blinked confusedly.

"And he came out for a look around before sending you here."

Bob the salesman was nodding in masculine agreement.

I blinked harder.

"It means he's spending time thinking about what's under you, and not just…"

Mr. Henderson and I both stared as Alcide trailed off on vicious roar of a blush. How bizarre. My day-old love life had made a werewolf blush.

"What I mean is, he's thinking about what's driving you around, not just… Ah hell."

Alcide's eyes slid closed on embarrassment.

"Driving into me?" I finished in an overly innocent tone. Mr. Henderson discreetly muffled his sudden cough into a lime green silk hanky.

"Yeah," Alcide managed weakly. "That."

Understanding over the tires had softened my irritation to mush. Flashbacks of 'that' had given me a wicked edge. What prompted my next remarks came off some playful place between.

"I'm sure it's a little bit of both," I smiled impishly. "Eric's just wonderful at multitasking."

Both the men were staring at me now, faces see-sawing between horrified humor and curious consternation.

"So about the Jeep," I said, switching abruptly to brisk. "Let's talk light tight compartments."

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for all the wonderful reviews I've gotten so far on this story... I'm going to try and get to all of you personally today, but I'm still having trouble telling who I've responded to, and who I haven't. I wish had a system for delineating which reviews have been responded to and which haven't, but eh, oh well... I love you all the same! You make my day a little brighter! :)


	13. Chapter 13

**13- Sometimes half-ways lead to happy hearts**

* * *

I'd finally gotten back from the car dealership after a rather vigorous bout of negotiating with Bob the Salesman- which I must confess to enjoying more than a bit. We'd decided on a halfway price for the light proof compartment upgrade, thanks to my little telepathy advantage. I'd gotten Eric's tires, Bob had gotten Eric's bonus, and Alcide had gotten hilarity out of watching me work my steel magnolia charm all over the contracts. I'd signed with a great deal of satisfaction over knowing I was now the proud owner of a sunshiny, four-wheel-drive beast.

Now I was back in Eric's bed, wearing my birthday suit and staring wistfully down at his dead for the day face. It was a bit of a strangeness, seeing the man I loved lifeless and settled down into absolute stillness. His normally night light skin was subdued to a marble sheen, his blond hair was spilled motionless over the pillow like petrified silk, his full lips were still halfway parted off accepting my dawn approaching kiss.

As corpses go, Eric sure was a pretty one.

I'd been feeling a bit… disconnected since he'd gone to rest, and it had taken me awhile to realize on him doing so, our blood bond had gone as well. It was just as well. I'd had a lot of thinking to do about four little letters that meant everything. If Eric had been a normal man, heck even a man at all, I'd have had some sort of clue how to proceed off his thoughts. But chances were, if he had been a normal man, we wouldn't be where we were right now: naked as babies after a night full of mayhem and mischievous loving. And I sure as shoot wouldn't be sitting here all pouty faced over working up my courage to up the emotional ante.

I've never really been a beat-around-the-bushes-with-an-almost-stick kind of gal. Sure, I'm great at keeping secrets and the like when I 'overhear' them, but when it comes to my own feelings and the people I care about, I'm considerably more direct. But then, I've never been in love before. And I've certainly never been in love with a thousand-year-old vampire sheriff.

I'd waited 25 years to do just this sort of falling. Twenty-five long, lonely, unsatisfied years where I'd passed the time trying to push out others' thoughts on love for sanity's sake. My own little moment of self awareness had smacked me in the head like a fly ball gone foul. I'd all but seen stars, and having Eric worship my body into countless orgasms right after had only made it worse in the best possible way. But it couldn't escape my attention that I'd fallen hard and fast for the first male I'd been able to let in.

Was that all this was? I wondered, idly fiddling with the horseshoe charm he'd gifted me last week. Just me trying to pin love on the vampire so I'd have a reason to justify my lust for him?

No, I decided on staring down at him. This wasn't just lust. I'd had lust before, plenty of times. For JB du Rone, for my boss Sam on occasion, and several others that blipped by before their unwanted thoughts had shoved them off my radar. The lust had never brought this warm glow before, this tender ache at the edges of my heart that only got satisfied when he turned those blue eyes on me and smiled like I was everything he'd been searching for in a thousand years of night.

I searched his face for some further clarity, but it was my heart more than my eyes taking him in even now. In sleep he looked near on angelic, his face holding up peaceful even under the weight of my conflicted gaze. There were untold memories hidden under this beautiful face that, by some miracle, I got to call mine, and I wanted to share in as many as I was able. I wasn't foolish enough to want to nose around in all his past darkness, but I sure enough wanted to stick around to lighten it some.

So what exactly was I supposed to do with this one-sided heaviness? Eric was a light heart by nature, despite being a vamp. Maybe even in spite of it. I didn't expect he'd brush me off for confessing to my feelings, but I wasn't sure how deep he'd let the words carry, either. If he went all cavalier on my confession, he'd be feeling the downside of my palm over the grief of my heart. Eric Northman had wanted Sookie Stackhouse to belong to him, and by God he'd be gifted the package on the whole. If he had even a lick of sense he'd be accepting it the same.

I nodded once to sure up my conviction, then settled in to wait for dusk.

"You bought me tires," I said immediately on Eric's eyes popping open.

"I did," he agreed easily, pupils dilating blue into black as he took in what I wasn't wearing.

"Did you buy the Jeep to wear them?" he asked on cross-examining my breasts.

"Sure enough. Mr. Henderson is one in a million."

"A rare man," Eric agreed devilishly.

Then he was a flash of sudden motion, lips latched around my nipple in a sucking pressure that bowed my spine and blasted my senses. It was all I could do to hold on to my hard won resolve.

"Wait," I managed, shoving at his chest with the flat of my palm. He went down easily for me, watching my face with uncertain curiosity.

"There's something I gotta say, before I lose my courage to lust."

Eric stacked his hands behind his head and grinned in wicked compliance.

"I am all ears," he purred with enough perversity to have my gaze roaming on a total Eric Northman tour.

"You're all of something," I murmured.

Then I took a breath over the butterflies in my belly and plunged forward.

"I'm in love with you."

Flabbergasted ain't a word I ever expected to catch sight of off my Word-of-the-Day calendar, but I was witnessing it now dead and in vampire. Eric was staring at me like I'd declared the night lost to permanent sunlight, all wide eye blues and shock slack lips. I might have snickered if it weren't for the desperation holding me hostage.

"Sookie-"

"I don't expect you to reciprocate or the like," I interrupted blindly. "The truth of it is you've already shown me consideration past what most people claim as love. I've never- I've never had anyone other than my Gran look to my needs the way you do. Even when I'm tempted to slap you on account of the meddling."

His lips twitched a bit at that, and it was enough to rally me the rest of the way through.

"You roped me into working for you by tripping up my conscience. You snuck blood into me on underhanded protection. You killed a fellow vamp on saving my life. You gifted me tires on a bout of blackmail." I smiled bittersweetly. "You're manipulative and highhanded, and it's the whole of you I love."

Disbelief faded to death on my last words, and I could feel his reaction all the more for the lifelessness of his face. Elation, caution, hope, yearning, uncertainty. It was a cocktail of confusion, shaken and stirred, and I was both the hand that did the mixing and the glass into which it poured.

"Alrighty," I said, slow blowing out a relieved breath. "That's that, then."

I gave an authoritative nod in his stunned direction.

"You may proceed with the seduction as planned, Mr. Northman."

He immediately flash gathered me in his arms. When he spoke, his accent was thick and his words careful.

"My Sookie, what I… feel for you is far beyond what I had thought possible."

I could feel his caution- and dare I even think it? -fear through the blood bond. It wasn't quite words, it wasn't quite telepathy, but I caught his meaning all the same. Fear that I couldn't be satisfied with what he had to offer, fear that he would lose what he had only just discovered, what was quickly becoming as necessary as blood. And for every bit of his fear I felt, my heart got a little bit lighter.

"It has been a long time since I have been human. Longer still since I have had use for such words as- as love." He forced the last word out with an almost audible note of panic, and I was grateful my head was tucked to his chest as my lips spread in satisfied amusement.

How 'bout that? Little ol' Sookie Stackhouse had thrown the all-possessed Sheriff Northman through a loop.

"Men of my time did not use such terms of endearment past infancy. For us, love and duty were as inseparable as life and death, and we did not speak of them. I was a warrior, you see," he claimed proudly.

"I do," I murmured with perfect solemnity. And I did. Eric's inability to verbally return my affections had nothing at all to do with him being a vampire, and everything to do with the very human way in which he'd been raised. It was a question of centuries, not emotions, and nothing else he could have revealed would have eased me as much.

He lifted me abruptly off his chest and peered down at me questioningly.

"I am not saying this right," he decided aloud. There was a frustrated crease between his brow, and confused worry haunting his eyes. "If I could only find the words-"

"Your words are just fine," I interrupted gently, but he looked anything but convinced. Had I really ever thought that I was going to be the one struggling after my confession?

"Eric, honey… I'm not mad. I'm not upset. I'm happy just being here with you, just like this."

I brushed my lips over his furrowed brow, threaded my fingers through his hair, and smiled my peaceful heart down at him. He searched me intently for the truth of it, both visually and emotionally through the blood bond. I gazed back at him steadily, wearing my serenity as easily as my tan, and feeling it as deeply as my bones.

"I do believe you mean that," he said eventually.

"Of course I do," I scolded with mock chagrin. "I've meant everything I've said. Just as I understand everything you've said."

He kept up the visual probe a few seconds longer before the half-hearted doubt slipped to full-hearted determination.

"Then understand this as well… All that I am capable of feeling is yours."

The words came out sounding like an arrogant proclamation… or a really earnest vow. With Eric, I was discovering, there wasn't likely to be much of a difference.

"All of it?" I murmured on adjusting myself to take him in. He made a throaty growl, fingers biting into my hips and fangs snicking as I parted for his entrance. I slid down on him slowly, filling my body to the hilt on lifting my heart to heaven. We stared into each other, still for the moment, and I could feel his fear speeding away as I poured my love in through our bond.

Sure and truly, even feathers aren't this weightless.

"I can feel you," he murmured, one big hand pressing flat to my belly, the other to my back. "I can feel what's inside you for me."

His wide eyes were burning blue fire into mine.

"Miraculous."

His hands slid up to cup my shoulders and draw me down to him. He held me tight to his chest, hips flex, flex, flexing on a shared heartbeat. My head was arched to the side to offer him my neck, but he ignored it for my eyes.

Again, again. Let her speak the words again.

"I love you," I gifted aloud, and let him flow us over the edge into gentle madness.

"You heard me," he said sometime later, fingers combing lazily through my hair.

"Yes," I peacefully confessed.

"Was it the first time?"

"No. The first time was on the dock, right before you flew me home."

I shoved off his chest and looked down into his considering gaze.

"Does it bother you?"

"Marginally-"

I frowned.

"-But not for the reasons you think," he concluded with a knowing smile. "It occurs to me that on both occasions I was willing myself open to your powers. Wanting you to know my mind."

Well, that was certainly a bit of relief.

"So it was on account of you trying to share that I heard?"

Eric shrugged lazily.

"Perhaps. Your telepathy is a relatively unexercised gift. Who is to know what you will become capable of on practice?"

He didn't seem particularly threatened by the prospect. Intrigued, maybe, and it went a long way on settling my anxiety. As did the fingers he laced with mine on a reassuring squeeze.

"It would be best if this remains our secret."

"Well jeez, Eric," I drawled on an epic eye roll. "An' here I was all set to take out an ad in the AVL newsletter."

He tugged at my hair playfully.

"Smart mouthed wench."

"Nimble tongued vamp."

"That is not an insult," he said with great humor.

"Don't I just know it," I cheered happily.

"Are you certain of this?" he drawled innocently. "Perhaps we should check."

I was giggling as he dove under the covers.

I didn't stay giggling very long.

* * *

Three mighty happy moments and a timeshare shower later, I was standing in the bathroom staring stupidly at a model version of my face in a half-fogged mirror. My blue eyes looked liked high-end cobalt, my tanned skin looked like it had gold for pigment. I leaned in closer. Surely those were false eyelashes. Surely I'd only forgotten to lick my lips after a nip of Eric. I licked them now, but they stayed moistly red.

Surely sex, even brain-cell blowing sex under the clever hands of a Viking love god, couldn't have effected me to such extremes.

"Eric," I called out a little hesitantly. "Honey, why do I look like I walked off a cover shoot for Health and Beauty?"

"My blood," he remarked casually on stepping out of the glass enclosed shower. He didn't bother with a towel, and the water ran helter skelter lines over every inch of his mountainously muscular self. It was an imagine to corrupt the stoutest of wills, but I held firm.

Instead of panting, I scowled at him as I popped my hands on my hips.

"You said there weren't gonna be any other side effects."

Eric shrugged offhandedly. The motion sent the tight muscles of his torso jumping, but I kept my gaze up.

Mostly.

"I do not consider accentuated beauty to be a side effect, but a perk," he said on squeezing the excess water out of his hair.

The shower had darkened his long locks from pale gold to dark wheat, and I stared as his big fingers moved along them with deliberate slowness, patiently forcing the water down, drop by glistening drop. There was a corresponding wetness gathering between my legs, and I stood mesmerized until the liquid dripped off the ends on racing downwards to the floor and my discarded towel.

My eyes flashed suddenly back up to Eric, to find him staring at me with savage awareness. I took a gaspy type breath on seeing his expression, and he smiled smugly before flicking his hair casually back over his shoulders. It made a wet slapping sound on his shoulders that sounded enough like sex to have my eyes crossing on a flashback.

"Alrighty," I agreed for sanity's sake. "What else?"

"Heightened senses, keener reflexes." He flashed to the counter and tossed me my bottle of Obsession on an underhand pitch. I caught it on a blink, then blinked down at it in surprise.

"You might want to be careful with that," he said, sounding pleasantly pleased.

"I'll blame it on my vitamins," I snarked back, and he roared with laughter and flashed to a quick stop in front of me. Leaning down, he cupped my face in his big hands and gave me a tonsil searching kiss that surely had the mirrors as foggy as my brain.

"I am crazy about you, Sookie Stackhouse," he murmured after.

"I'm starting to see that word in a whole new light," I panted happily.

He kissed me again on a smirk.

"In fact, I believe I'm in serious danger of growing downright fond of it."

"I seem to be growing as well," he murmured, lifting me up on the counter on a casual toss ending on a not-so-casual push. His big palm slid from my hip to my calf before jerking me closer and hooking my ankle around his backside. He was deep enough inside me to nudge my belly button, and on a quick flex I could have sworn he did just that.

"Oh God," I breathed, and Eric smiled a dangerous new smile.

"Not even he will come between us now."

His blue eyes glowed with possessive certainty, his inspired hips wickedly demonstrative on his conviction. The feel of him inside me, the feel of his water slicked skin sliding under my palms, the flesh of his perfect butt tightening under my calf on each possessive thrust, and I was coming hard enough to pop rocks into orbit.

But Eric held on waiting for something more. Still hard, rocking inside me in tune to my aftershocks. Blue eyes clear to share the secrets of my heart.

"Say it," he demanded, fingers cupping my chin in tender contrast to tone.

"I love you," I repeated on a sob. He threw himself to motion, and the sob graduated into a primal wail on him slamming me senseless.

"I'll take that too," he murmured on swallowing the sound with his lips. My hands came up and gripped his face in reciprocal possession.

I wasn't sure which of us it was growling on him chasing us over the edge into madness.

* * *

By the time we finally managed to get dressed and going, Eric had convinced me into driving his Corvette. And since my car had gone the way of graveyard trade-ins and my Jeep wouldn't be delivered 'til the next night, I let him.

"To round out the bedroom fun," he had sassed on tossing me the keys.

By the time we got to Gran's, my vamp-improved hair was a catastrophe off the wind, and my cheeks were flush off avoiding Eric's advances. I'd lost track of how many ways I'd had to say no for safety's sake, or had to trap his wandering hands tight between my knees. Not while I'm driving, Eric. Sorry, honey, but the stoplight's out, too. Nope, not the stop sign either.

I was laughing at the ridiculousness of it all when Eric flashed around and tugged me up out of his bucket seat. My arms wrapped around his neck on second-nature instinct as he spun me around and pinned me to the car.

"Stay with me again tonight," he said on nuzzling my unblemished neck. I shivered on remembering our adventures of the past few days.

"Alright," I agreed on a sigh.

I opened my eyes and looked into his soft blue ones. The air around us stilled, the darkness soft on my skin and loved beneath my touch. If it could be said the universe offers moments of clarity, this was mine. Whatever Eric was capable of laying verbal claim to in regards to his heart, his eyes couldn't lie anymore than the blood. I stared into him on a silent prayer, thanking God for the giving and whatever devil had done the afterhours delivering.

"I love you," I whispered aloud, and he reflected the sentiment in a tender kiss before collecting my hand in his big palm.

"Your Gran is waiting," he reminded, and I nodded happily.

He reached back into the car for Gran's bouquet, which in my addled state I'd all but forgotten about. I took it with my spare hand and a grateful smile, and then we walked up on the porch holding hands, sharing a snicker on trying to open the door as one.

We were bumping lips on this shared humor when the door jerked open to reveal a beaming Gran. I jumped from humor to high school in a flash. If not for Eric's steady grip, I'd have leapt back down off the porch into lust concealing darkness.

"Gran," I barely managed over my thick tongue.

Gran gave me a thorough looking over, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. She must have been happy with what she saw, because on the bottom end she gave a big nod and a happy sniff. Then she lifted her head and threw a megawatt smile at a patiently amused Eric.

"Eric Northman, you come on and hug me now."

He lifted her easily into his embrace, and I could feel his gentle satisfaction on her squeezing him tight.

"Adele, you are the most majestic of matrons," he said on stepping back. She clucked her tongue happily and smoothed her dress with a cheerful flutter. She was wearing purple tonight, a pale shade near to lilac with little white flowers worked into the skirt. She did, indeed, look majestic.

"Silver tongued rascal."

"Sorry we're late, Gran," I said on popping her papery cheek with a kiss.

I handed her the black-eyed Susan's with a nod towards Eric.

"They're from-"

"Both of us," he interjected smoothly, and I'd have liked to burst with joy. Here I was, the perpetually single Sookie Stackhouse, part of an 'us.' Gift giving as part of an 'us.' I smiled blissfully up at Eric, and he didn't bother trying to conceal his amusement with my reaction.

"So I see," Gran crowed happily over a generous floral sniff. "Pam and Hadley are already here," she added on an even happier afterthought.

I watched Eric's eyes flicker to the living room then settle back on my face, where I was wearing my guilt like overdone blush.

"Not to worry. We all were just passing the time thick as thieves. We weren't really expecting you on time, anyhow, what with the late night an' all."

"Late night?" I asked weakly.

"Pamela was telling me about the late business at the club. Imagine, a vampire embezzler!"

"It was something else," I agreed vaguely as I flashed back on last night's bloody circus.

"I guess it's a good thing you had a vampire sheriff at the ready."

Eric's lips twitched once, twice, then under my narrowed eyes erupted into a full-out grin. Gran beamed back at him proudly.

"If you didn't drink pop I'd be checking your Kool-Aid," I muttered rebelliously.

Then, a little louder, "You haven't asked after my car shopping."

"Figured you'd get round to telling me sooner or later. Tell me you traded that rust bucket in like I suggested."

"Eric helped me find something to suit."

"Did he?" Gran sounded ivory with her own brand of guilt. Her eyes flickered to him only briefly, but it was enough to confirm my suspicions on their automotive collaboration. That, and the feelings of bemused satisfaction I was getting off the blood bond.

"Uh huh. It was a tough choice between the Lamborghini and the Jag, but in the end it was the titanium rims that sold me on the Jag."

"Jag?" she demanded fiercely, giving Eric a monster eye. "You told me you were going to…"

She trailed off as she caught sight of my cat-ate-cream smile.

"Going to…?" I nudged with perverse good cheer.

"Salesmen know better than to hose a vampire," she finished in a sniff.

"Mmm hmm," I murmured in secret delight. My irritation at being at being maneuvered was lost to the joy I felt at them getting on so.

"You two go on in the living room now," she said on us crossing the threshold. "I'm gonna pop into the kitchen for a spell."

"So was it your idea or hers?" I asked Eric as we left Gran to her hostessing.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he lied smooth as silk.

"Uh huh."

I took a quick glance around the living room, finding it- if possible- even more spotless than usual. The air smelled like lemon wax, and the furniture gleamed like glass-coated wood. Hadley and Pam were seated on the smallest of the couches, a blood a piece on the table in front of them. Both of them looked positively rosy, and I wondered how many True Bloods they'd drunk for politeness' sake.

"Sookie!" Hadley cheered, flashing up and wrapping her tiny arms around me in a hug. Pam stayed seated, but was all smug lips and hopping eyebrows as she glanced between Eric and I. I grinned back in defiant confirmation.

"Looking good, Pam," I said as I took in her off-hours outfit. Outside of her gothic finery she looked all the more the soccer mom, albeit a fashionable one. She was wearing a rose pink sweater twinset over cream colored pants and mauve suede boots with tiny pink bows. My cousin, in matching contrast, was wearing a buff colored baby tee with a metallic pink rose over dark wash skinny jeans. Her boots, much to my mush-hearted delight, were identical to Pam's.

I glanced over at Eric, who was watching my visual cataloging with bemused affection.

"Thanks, Sookie. You're looking pretty scrumptious yourself," she leered playfully, and I gave a shy smile on running my hands down my new blue and white dress.

Hadley was laughing on dashing back to her side.

"Adele, Hadley and I were just talking about the possibility of 'double dates,'" Pam said.

"Sounds intriguing," Eric said on folding his long length down onto the sofa. He reached for my hand and pulled me easily down next to him.

"Perhaps bowling?" Pam suggested.

"No," Hadley and I both insisted at once.

Eric and Pam were both looking at us strangely, and I couldn't blame them. We'd all but shouted the one-word denial, and with good reason. Or evil reason, depending on how you looked at it. Our Uncle Bartlett had been nearly as fond of his bowling shoes as he was of underage flesh.

"We don't like the shoes," I explained to Eric's probing expression.

"Not one bit," Hadley agreed passionately.

"Well," Pam said after further searching of her face. "Perhaps folfing? Dear Abby claims it's all the rage."

"Oh, I hear there's a great course out near Shreveport," I said immediately. I was more than happy to jump on the change of subject bandwagon. "Hoyt Fortenberry goes all the time with Jason."

"I wonder if they have nighttime hours," Eric said on playing along. I could tell by the way he was watching me that he wasn't quite satisfied with our answer, but that he was sitting on the curiosity for now.

"You could call an' find out," I suggested.

"Or just check on your BlackBerry," Hadley added.

Gran had been busy bustling about as we all got settled, and she came out now with a red plastic serving tray with two bottles and all the fixings. I caught a stray thought from her that she'd nearly brought everything out on her mother's good silver, but had remembered her better senses at the last moment.

"It looks great, Gran," I said, smiling at her as she set everything down on the coffee table. Eric's fresh flowers were lovingly centered on the tray, and I moved the vase carefully to the side on reaching to uncork the first bottle. It was some sort of specialty blood, I figured. The purple label had only one word in arrogant, cursive scrawl: Royalty. I felt a jerk of guilt from Eric as he caught full sight of the bottle.

"What?" I murmured on the aside.

He hesitated, eyes still fixed tableside.

"This vintage is particularly rare, Sookie. And particularly pricey."

I was still struggling to get the particularly pricey thing uncorked when Eric lifted it out of my hands and popped it easy as you please. Then Gran was there, lifting the open bottle directly out of his hands.

"My hearing ain't that gone," Gran remarked on filling Eric's glass as I was busy opening the other bottle. "And this here's a special occasion, so you be keeping such thoughts where they belong. Which is nowhere."

Gran leaned down then, and much to my happiness and Pam's amusement, kissed Eric soundly on his cheek. His eyes followed her after, as she went round the room pouring blood into crystal like it was lemonade. Her lipstick had left a bright peach outline on Eric's pale skin, and though I'm sure he was aware of it, he left it right where it was. Like an Estee Lauder badge of affection. If I hadn't loved him before that moment, I sure enough would have then.

I was a happy mute on handing Gran her glass of champagne. She took it with a happy sigh as she settled down on the chair next to us.

"Even an old lady's entitled to some overpriced celebrating if it's merited." Her eyes were all but dripping as she glanced between Hadley and Pam, and Eric and I. "And if the sight of you four happy and healthy ain't cause for celebrating, I don't know what is."

"A lady you may be," Eric said softly on toasting her with his blood. "But with such a spirit you shall never be old."

"To the Stackhouse women," Pam chimed in. "I'm hard pressed to tell which of you entertains me the most."

"And what she means by that is that she likes us," I modified drily.

"You're quite endearing for breathers," Pam assured us as we all bumped crystal.

"Breathers! Ha!" Gran chortled.

"Kool-aid," I sassed on sipping my champagne.

"Catnip," Eric smirked.

I promptly choked my bubbly down into my left lung.

"There there," Eric murmured with mischievous consideration as he rubbed gentle circles on my back.

Gran was eyeballing me with suspicious concern.

"Fine," I breathed jaggedly. "I'm just fine."

The evening went smooth as silk after that bit of silliness. I'd had some mild concerns about Gran's reactions to Hadley and Pam's… closeness. Not that Gran would judge either of them on account of it, but she hadn't exactly had much exposure to alternate lifestyles. Still, she seemed to be taking their affection in more than happy stride. Truth be told, she near on glowed like the pair herself when Pam brushed a kiss over Hadley's knuckles.

"I can feel that you are happy," Eric murmured to me.

"Pleased as punch," I agreed on a weepy sniffle.

"Then why are you crying, dear one?" he asked gently.

"My family's all but whole again. An' once we get Jason on board, it will be."

"You are such a rare creature," he said on quick kiss.

"Well, not like a vampire," I laughed against his cool lips.

"Rarer still," he assured me, and I felt myself go warm off the praise.

It was about half past eleven when I felt Eric go on alert through the bond.

"What?" I demanded as all three vamps flashed to their feet.

"Somebody's here."

Gran already had her shotgun at the ready. I felt like the only person not on action alert.

"Jason maybe?"

"No," Hadley said after a considering listen. "Jason's got a longer stride. This one's sort of a… a sneaky shuffle."

"Go," was all Sheriff Northman said.

It was a terse few minutes while we waited on them getting back. Eric still to the grave next to my pacing, Gran fidgeting and running anxious fingers over the stock of the gun.

"He was gone," Pam said grimly on their return, and I got the sinking sense that I was about to hear some news I'd really rather not hear.

"Go on and get to the 'but,'" I insisted as Eric pulled me back to his chest.

"It's Tina," Hadley said softly.

"Tina," I repeated dimly.

"He…" she trailed off on hesitation, then shoved forward. "He nailed her to that big old oak out by the cemetery."

"Oh my god," I breathed. Poor Tina. My eyes slid shut in sorrow. I'd had her for near on four years. I'd gotten her when she'd been the size of a tea cup, and slept with her most nights curled up to my chest.

There'd be no more of that now.

"Sookie," Eric murmured, settling me back down on the couch. I could feel his rage simmering through the bond, but there was no trace of it in his eyes.

"Drink this," he said, pressing my champagne into my hand.

"I don't think so," I shot back, setting it right back down on the table.

"It is not scotch, dear one," he soothed on lifting the glass again, and I took it with a sigh and a shaky hand.

I could hear Gran in the other room scolding Andy Bellefluer across the phone lines.

"She's good and pissed," I said as I knocked back the bubbles.

"We will find who did this."

His eyes were ardent blue, his pale skin pulsing fiercely with light.

"I know you will," I said softly. I could feel him sending waves of calm through the bond, and I squeezed his hand appreciatively back.

He poured me another glass of champagne and I drank at it more slowly than the first, letting the alcohol warm my blood and soften my brain.

"I guess this goes to prove Sheriff Dearborn right," I said woodenly after a few moments of silence. "The killer's after donors."

"Death is what he'll be finding," Pam drawled viciously, and Hadley nodded in solemn agreement. Eric didn't say anything, only kept rubbing soft circles in my palm with his big thumb.

Bud Dearborn showed up not ten minutes later with Andy in tow. Andy kept his eyes anywhere but on mine, and I caught a stray thought that if I wasn't looking him in the eye, I couldn't hear him. I'd have found it funny at any other time, but right now I was too confused for laughs. Or at least I thought I was until the pair of them caught full sight of Hadley.

Flabbergasted seemed to be my word of the day. Bud went narrowed eyed for it, Andy opted for wide, but both of them looked like they'd swallowed an extra large helping of crushed glass for supper.

"Hey there, Andy," Hadley offered with a tentative smile as he struggled to choke down his shock.

_God, she's prettier than ever._

It was my turn to swallow glass as I caught an image of my cousin riding astride in the back of a rusted out Ford bed surrounded by a pile of crushed beer cans. From there it was a flash backward show of a relationship I, and surely the rest of Bon Temps, had never known existed. Secret lunchtime hook-ups in the boiler room, after school shag-a-thons under the bleachers, even tree-side standing in the graveyard next door. But not once in Mansion Bellefluer.

_Shoulda told Grandmother to stick it somewhere._

"Hey there, Hadley," Andy finally managed to say aloud.

"Hmm," purred Pam, wrapping a pale arm around Hadley and sliding it provocatively down her hip. "So this is Andy."

"Yes, ma'am."

Andy's eyes drifted briefly to Pam's lingering fingers, then back to Hadley without so much as a blush. He was too busy thinking other thoughts more shameful, the kind of shame that freezes the blood rather than riles it.

Andy Bellefluer had once upon a time well and truly loved my wild hair cousin. Loved her like a forever after secret, anyhow, and blamed himself for her downhill run into darkness. And looking at my cousin's poorly veiled vulnerability, I wasn't sure I didn't agree with him. One glance at Pam's razorblade smirk, and I knew she didn't.

Was there an upgrade from flabbergasted, I wondered?

"So what's this 'bout a cat being nailed to a tree?" Bud gruffed into the awkward silence, and Hadley visibly flinched.

Pam's lips peeled back into a hideous smile over her fangs, and it was Andy's turn to flinch.

"It's out near the cemetery," she purred viciously.

"I'll be needing to see it. If you won't mind showing me Miss…?" Andy trailed off with an expectant air.

"Pamela De Beaufort," she informed him with a classy disdain that would have set even Mrs. Caroline Bellefluer, the reigning social queen, down a peg or too.

"And I would be happy to show you the cemetery, officer."

"It's detective," Andy said flatly. The tips of his ears were turning an alarming shade of purplish red not unlike a fair-skinned eggplant. "Detective Bellefluer."

"My mistake," Pam lilted coolly. Then she was turning into Hadley and cupping her pale glowing face in both hands. The kiss she gave her was passionate, for sure, but even more so, it was tender. The kind of kiss that promises lazy fireside chats and sleepy-eyed Sunday morning loving. Or evenings, as it were in this case.

"I'll be right back," Pam murmured on the finish, and Hadley glowed back at her with starry-eyed gratitude.

Andy trailed after Pam like a half-beaten puppy, big shoulders slumped like he was being carted off to the pound. Bud was busy looking at the fading wallpaper, at Gran's favorite afghan, at the tips of his scuffed boots, anywhere but at the image that was currently occupying his brain. Which was my_ 'fanger of a cousin making time with some high and mighty undead fluesy.'_ I stared at him in unconcealed contempt until Gran stepped between with a warning glance my way.

_Later_, she thought at me before asking Bud would he like some pop.

So I walked over to Hadley as Eric and Bud verbally dove into plans for serial killer trapping. Bud looked midget-sized standing next to Eric, and for all his official sheriff hardware, there was no mistaking which of the two carried more authoritative punch. A badge alone does not a sheriff make, I thought with some satisfaction before turning to my cousin.

"You alright?" I asked softly, rubbing my hands up and down her cool arms.

"Oh, sure. Just surprised is all."

Her voice sounded a shade too cheerful for honest.

"He really did love you," I said softly, and her eyes jumped from the rug to mine.

"He did?"

"Yup. He just wasn't smart enough to get past the other bull."

"Thanks for not pulling the punch on it."

"I hear what I hear, but there's not many that can bear the hearing."

"It's easier hearing it, now that I'm happy."

Andy and Pam came back in then, and I didn't even need the thoughts in his head to know the situation was grim.

"It's the same," he said to the room at large. "Strangled beforehand. There were some boot marks too, but with this dry spell we've been having ground's too dusty to hold a print. Best I can tell they're work boots of some kind. The kind construction workers wear."

_The kind Jason Stackhouse wears._

There wasn't any malice behind the thought, or I'd have chosen my next words with a lot less care.

"Gran, maybe you better call Jason and let him in on what's happening. Jason's down in Monroe with Liz Barrett taking in a play," I explained aloud for Andy's nerves. I figured he'd had enough with the Hadley reveal, without having to deal with any further supernatural surprises.

"Maybe I ought to at that," Gran agreed reluctantly, though I could hear her mental relief at knowing Jason had an alibi to clear him of this mess.

I turned back to face Hadley, and all my thoughts of murders and kitty corpses faded under the expression I saw there. She was staring vacantly off into space, face dead, eyes lifeless. I got an uneasy feeling that whatever thoughts she was thinking, they weren't happy ones. I jumped back into our previous conversation, suddenly desperate for an answer.

"Are you?" She stared at me blankly for a moment. "Happy, I mean?"

It was like seeing a switch thrown, how fast the life came back into her, and I wasn't entirely sure I believed the reassuring smile she gave me. Still, there was no denying the sincerity of her next words.

"Oh yeah," she said, flashing eyes over to Pam, who was busy staring at Andy with evil eyes and a siren's smile.

"I never expected love like that."

"I hear ya," I said, glancing over at my own towering vamp. He and Bud were playing a visible game of one-upmanship, and from the sullen look on Bud's face, there was no doubt in my mind who was winning. Despite that fact, I could feel through the blood bond Eric's growing frustration with Backwoods Bud.

"He loves you, you know. He just ain't got words for it."

"Oh, that's alright," I cheered softly. "I do."

I walked over to Eric then and wrapped my fingers around his forearm. He tucked an arm easily around my waist in response, pulling me into his side like second-nature choreography. He kept on with his conversation without even breaking stride.

"As far as resources go, you would be hard pressed to top mine."

Bud hooked his thumbs on his belt at that, looking more than a little doubtful.

"I wouldn't think your kind would care over much about a few dead… donors."

Eric shot Bud a scathing glance on reply.

"I look after my extended interests and then some."

_Some tail's more like._

After a lifetime of being the village virgin, it was a little hard to get up and arms over a little misconceived whoredom directed my way. But on the insult to Eric I was boiling inside. Eric sensed it, and caught my fingers in his as I tensed up. He turned deliberately from Bud, giving him the broad expanse of his back and me the blue humor of his considering eyes.

"Bud and I were just coming to an agreement on how to proceed with this… delicate matter, dear one."

Bud meanwhile was eyeballing the lipstick on Eric's face with obvious distaste. I could hear his brain working overtime trying to figure why Adele Stackhouse would ever want to associate with a dead man, much less kiss one on the cheek. Clearly he'd missed Grandaddy Earl's funeral, where she'd all but crawled into his coffin over her grief. I'd never thought to see my regal Gran so tore up, and I surely hadn't since.

Bud quickly dropped his gaze when Eric turned back around to face him.

"It would be a shame for the American Vampire League to hear that the local law enforcement isn't using every resource at their disposal to solve such heinous crimes of bigotry. Wouldn't you say, Sheriff Dearborn?"

It was an election year coming up, and Eric's threat of bad publicity hung in the air like a well-timed promise. Wasn't my vamp love just all shades of clever?

"I might at that," Bud agreed reluctantly.

"Excellent." Eric smiled then, and it was anything but pleasant. "Then I expect you'll keep me apprised of any progress, or special requirements that might arise, given the circumstances."

Bud grunted in response, then nodded under Eric's continued stare. Even without the election, Bud was well aware that such a case was bound to make the airwaves of America, and he had no intention of being on the bad side of the vampire press.

"You'll be hearing from us."

"I look forward to it," Eric said with equal insincerity.

I'd had about enough of this whole pissing match. Especially since it was occurring over the corpse of my pet.

"If y'all are done, I'd like to bury Tina now," I said with more than little irritation.

Andy cleared his throat uneasily.

"We're gonna need to run some further tests, Miss Stackhouse. Ligature and the like."

I could hear his mental suspicions that Tina had been strangled with the same belt that had killed Maudette and Dawn, and it went a long ways to squelching my anger.

"Alright," I agreed more easily. "You'll let me know when I can come get her for burying?"

"I will at that," Andy assured me a little too readily. He was thinking of my cousin, of when he might see her again.

Bud was thinking of me, but for far less pleasant reasons.

_She's lucky it weren't her 'bout to be buried, running 'round with vamps such as she is._

Now normally, I'd have been able to ignore that little bit of mental nastiness, but it had been a long night and I was real tired. I all but visibly flinched, and Eric stiffened beside me on feeling my reaction through our blood bond.

But there are other sorts of blood bonds, and Gran had shared one with me since birth.

"Bud Roger Dearborn," Gran said, biting off each word like a quick fisted kidney punch. "I'd like a word on the porch."

Andy took a good glance between the two of them, gave a quick look at the supernatural rest of us, before making some half-hearted mumblings about doubling checking the crime scene. He made tracks going out the door, and Bud and Gran were soon to follow.

"She's gonna give it to him good," I murmured. The vampires were alight with fascinated anticipation as they stared out towards the porch.

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Stackhouse?"

I was a bit startled to find I could drop in on the conversation as if it were happening to my immediate left. I glanced at Eric questioningly, and he gave me a devilish smirk.

"Vitamins," he murmured, and I gave him a half-hearted glare before honing back in with my vamp enhanced hearing.

"Try losing the attitude to start. It's a badge you wear, Bud Dearborn. Not a judge's mantle."

Pam broke out into a funhouse grin at that.

"Now, Mrs. Stackhouse-"

"Don't you Mrs. Stackhouse me in that placating way. I got eyes, and I tell you plain and simple I don't like what they see. My Sookie ain't never caused you or yours a lick of trouble, and that man in there-"

"-he ain't no man."

"He's got more claim to the title then some," she snapped savagely back.

"Sookie's got no business hanging out with the likes of him, Adele. He and all their kind… they're killers. And I say it ain't no coincidence, them being allergic to sunlight as they are."

I literally heard my Gran's furious intake of breath. Uh oh. My eyes flew over to Eric, who was lit up like a meltdown at a nuclear plant. Whatever humor he'd found in the situation was long gone. I hugged him carefully and laced my fingers with his. He gave me a gentle squeeze in return, but his eyes kept on staring sight unseeing towards the porch.

"Killers, you say? It was a man who killed my Sookie's Tina tonight, just as it were a man who killed those two girls. Sheriff Northman," she emphasized, "is going out of his way as he is to help you and yours overcome your obvious incompetence. Bodies piling up left and right, and the only thing you got on the killer is a share of his bigotry."

There was a monumental silence following that dead ringer of a comment.

"We'll be in touch," Bud said eventually, shame obvious for his tone.

"Hmph," was Gran's only reply.

We all listened as his heavy footsteps trudged down the porch and cross the yard to his car.

"Your Gran is something else," Pam said with obvious awe.

"I do not like this town," was all Eric said.

Gran came in muttering something about switches curing poor manners, and Hadley and I shot each other a knowing look.

"The nerve of that man!" she proclaimed to the room at large. "To think I actually baked my gingerbread for his last re-election party. Well, they'll be no more of that, I tell you now."

"He'll cooperate," Sheriff Northman declared confidently over his obvious disdain.

"Well of course he will. It's his attitude I'm worried over, not his work ethic."

"If he has any ethics at all," I muttered pissily.

Gran gave me the eyeball at that, and I shrugged defiantly.

"His thoughts speak for themselves on that account."

"He's a real bastard," Pam said, arms folding over her chest in pissy consensus.

Gran ignored the curse for more pressing concerns.

"You think he won't take this serious?"

I frowned at that.

"No, he'll take it serious. He doesn't think me and the other donors deserve to die. He just doesn't think we deserve any kind of respect in living."

My Viking went stiff next to me off those words, and I turned to him intent on soothing.

"It's alright, Eric," I murmured gently, rubbing my spare hand up over and around our joined ones.

"It is in no way alright," he insisted. His eyes were a dangerous shade of blue, his emotions were a dark mass of seething fury.

"I'm used to it," I explained, then let out a squeak as his fingers tightened on mine. His grip loosened immediately, and I watched- and felt- in fascination as he battened down on his turbulent self. It was like standing in the center of a tornado as it collapsed in on itself, and surely just as dangerous.

"One crisis at a time," he said with eventual calm. "But I don't want you saying that anymore," he added softly. I could feel the room's eyes on us as we hammered out the terms for my self respect.

"Alright," I agreed easily, because he was right. There was no reason in the world I should be used to being treated like a second-class citizen. "I won't say it anymore."

My thoughts were another thing entirely, but I made a silent vow of it that I'd work on them as well.

"Better," he murmured, leaning down to brush his lips lightly over mine. "We'll work on the rest."

I started under his kiss, then narrowed in on his all-knowing face in mock protest.

"You best quit figuring me out so easy, Eric Northman, or I'm gonna suspect you of mind reading."

"Have you forgotten so easily, my Sookie?" His fingers lifted and trailed down my cheek with an absentminded affection denied by the intensity of his eyes.

"I see you."

My breath hitched on remembering our parking lot exchange- both the words and the follow-up lusts.

"More than that," he murmured on lifting our hands. He pressed my palm flat to his cool chest, and my eyes widened as I felt his heart jumpstart under my touch. I hadn't even known he could do that.

"I feel you."

"No, I haven't forgotten," I managed over my fully loaded sensory flashback.

"I should hope not." His eyes were glowing with sensual bemusement, and it was all I could do to force myself back to the murky present. "Though I do look forward to your next reminder."

I took a shaky breath at that, then shook my head to clear it some.

"Eric, honey, I know I said I'd come home with you tonight-"

"Circumstances have changed," he interrupted with a tender flick to the tip of my nose. I scrunched it at him and stuck out my tongue in playful defiance, and he laughed before turning to face the rest of the room.

The motion burst me out of our little bubble, and I flushed pink on discovering the others still watching us with rapt attention. I glanced nervously at Eric, but if he had any qualms about revealing his softer side, he sure wasn't showing it. He slid back into command mode like it had just been waiting on pause, cradling me to his side all the while.

He looked to Gran first, who was studying the two of us with a bizarre expression of bittersweet regret.

"I will go to ground nearby and drive Sookie back to Shreveport to retrieve her new vehicle tomorrow night."

Gran nodded immediately in agreement.

"That seems to be for the best."

"You ain't got to do that," I insisted, and he glanced down at me with an almost paternal expression of patience.

"I find that I want to stay close to you."

So simple, and yet the deeper meaning all but leapt in the air between us. I could feel Hadley and Gran and Pam staring at us as if we'd said the very truth of it aloud.

"Alright," I agreed softly, and Sheriff Northman went back to giving his instructions.

"Pam, you will remain here with the women." Pam nodded heartily in consent. "I must go to Fangtasia and check in on Chow, seeing as it is his first night on the job."

He turned back to me with a smile so soft my bones went to mush off trying to catch up.

"I will be back before sunrise to tuck you in."

Eric looked positively proud at his use of modern phrasing, and I couldn't help but smile back. We both ignored Pam's not-so-subtle snicker.

"I'll leave the window open for you."

He pulled me into his cool chest then, pressing lips to the top of my head in a chaste kiss. Lord, how had I gone so many years without knowing what it felt like to be wrapped in these gentle strong arms? I pushed up on my tip-toes to press a kiss into the side of his throat.

"I love you," I breathed into his wonderfully scented neck.

"You taste of my heart," he murmured in perfectly understandable foreign speak. And then he was gone.

I stared after him wondering in more ways than one.

* * *

**A/N: I'd forgotten how much I'd loved this chapter... So Andy and Hadley, hmmm? Kind of complicates things for Andy, doesn't it? Awwww... Small towns... What are you going to do?**

**The next chapter should be up in an hour or so, so hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen... We've still got a bit to go, but we're getting there.**

**And with all the positive feedback I've been getting on this story, I'm seriously considering writing a sequel based on CH Living Dead in Dallas. Much as this story was, it would be a complete rewrite of book two with an Eric-Sookie centric storyline. Let me know what you think! I'm going to reread Living Dead in Dallas, get some ideas rolling... As always, thanks for your kind reviews, follows, and favorites! You guys make my day!**


	14. Chapter 14

**14- A teardrop an evenin' keeps the vampires confused**

* * *

Unused to the late night hours, Gran cried off to sleep a few minutes after Eric left. She popped the three of us on the cheek before retiring, and Pam, taking cues from her maker, left Gran's lipstick outline right where it was. After all the 'good nights,' Pam, Hadley and I ended up in my bedroom going over the outfits I'd gotten from Tara's Togs- was it really only just yesterday?

"You and Eric seem to be progressing nicely," Pam said coyly.

I watched in horror as Pam lifted a pair of skimpy black panties out of one of the bags.

"And what's this?" she purred perversely, spinning the bit of lace around her index finger.

"Nothing," I denied rather desperately.

"Mmm hmm," she murmured, still spinning the panties round. I made a grab for them, but to my greater horror she shot them across the room like a naughty rubber band.

"Pam!" I exclaimed, and Hadley burst into manic giggles.

I ignored my hee-hawing cousin and snatched the bag from her girlfriend with nigh on vamp speed. Pam's left eyebrow shot up and her lips tilted in a knowing smirk.

"Somebody's been matching nips with the sheriff, I see."

"I have really good vitamins," I stubbornly denied on stuffing the bag into my closet.

"She does look different," Hadley added thoughtfully. "Though if you didn't know better you might suspect it was just on account of the sex."

"Hadley!"

"Well, you look happy Sook. Happier than I've ever seen you."

"And I am. But not just on account of the sex. He bought me tires."

"Tires?" Pam drawled drily.

I nodded enthusiastically.

"And a skillet."

"So?"

"I think what Sook's trying to say is that Eric looks to her wellbeing," Hadley said, sounding several degrees of thoughtful on the subject.

I beamed at her on a nod.

"Exactly."

"Well sure he does," Pam remarked with a dismissive hand wave. "He moved that precious throne of his to his basement, didn't he?"

Hadley looked shocked to her shoes on hearing this bit of news.

"He did?"

"Most definitely. It's sitting in front of his big screen even as we speak."

"Well I sure didn't tell him to," I argued in vain.

"Sookie, Eric once fired the janitor just for dusting the thing."

"He didn't!"

They nodded as one.

"Then there's the thing with the vamps," Hadley added.

"The vamps?" I asked weakly. I was starting to feel a brain ache coming on, and for once it had nothing to do with my special hearing.

"Eric requested that his top vassals-"

"-Vassals?!"

"-present themselves at Fangtasia last night to meet you."

"But- but he didn't even introduce me!" I sputtered wildly.

Pam shrugged negligently.

"They all knew who you were."

I closed my eyes and took a settling breath.

"Sookie, do you remember the first night at Fangtasia?" Hadley asked anxiously. "What I said to you?"

"'Vampires don't think like people,'" I repeated back to her.

"Right. So honey… don't give yourself a heart attack over this."

"I'm not. I won't. I love Eric."

I opened my eyes and looked between the two of them.

"And my heart's plenty sturdy off that fact."

"You were unexpected, Sookie Stackhouse," Pam said decisively. "But I am glad for you."

"Thanks, Pam!" I exclaimed over my weepy-eyes before snatching her up same as I had the fripperies.

"You too," I told Hadley as her girlfriend made mock muffling noises into my chest. She smiled delightedly, and wrapped her cool arms around me as I sobbed happily on them both.

"Why am I feeling so stupidly happy?" I sniffled mid-embrace.

I'd no more than gotten the words out when there came a tap, tap, tapping at my window.

I turned and looked, and there was Eric, floating outside with a wicked grin splitting his moonlit face. He gave a devilish eyebrow wag and a merry little finger wave when he caught my expression.

"Oh you!" I scoffed.

"Well, we'll just be leaving then," Pam said, taking Hadley by the crook of the elbow and guiding her out into the hall. She gave me a quick wink on passing.

Eric slid in through my window as if he'd been doing it his whole life.

"Looks like I missed all the action," he lilted coyly.

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him a smirk as he leaned in for a kiss.

"And here I was wondering where Pam got it from."

"'It?'"

"The dry wicked wit," I explained just as dryly.

"I trained her well," he claimed proudly.

"Mmm hmm. I felt you coming just now, you know. It made me happy," I added shyly.

"We are connected through the blood, dear one. I felt for you, too, though I had not expected to see tears on your happy face." He slid his knuckles lovingly down the arch of my cheekbone.

"Tears of gratitude," I explained on a light laugh. I lifted my palms up and ruefully rubbed away the rest.

"And what's this?" Eric asked curiously on lifting the lace panties off my dresser.

I squeezed my eyes shut and huffed out an annoyed breath.

"An almost surprise."

Eric lifted the lace to his face and gave it a generous whiff.

"Unworn," he said, sounding all shades of disappointed.

"It was Tara and Alcide's idea," I confessed.

"Was it?" Eric seemed particularly amused by this information.

"Well, more like a joke, actually. They piled all these sundries on the counter while I was trying on outfits. But I decided on seeing them, why shouldn't I have some nice lingerie?"

Eric glowed all the brighter on hearing that.

"There are more?" he asked eagerly.

"Mmm hmm."

"Speaking of gratitude… Remind me to give the man a raise."

"Speaking of men that work for you… How's Chow doing?"

"Quite well, actually. The women want to fondle his tattoos, and the men want to talk about them. All in all I am quite pleased."

"I'm sorry you had to lose a bartender to get him."

Eric's face went stony off hearing that.

"I am not. Longshadow openly challenged my authority by attacking you."

"And of course there's the money," I added, but Eric only shrugged.

"A pittance. Bruce has already tracked it to an offshore account."

"Good ol' Bruce," I muttered, thinking back to his bathroom stall two-timing with Ginger the barmaid.

"Speaking of Bruce… it was kind of you to lie on his account-"

I could feel myself flushing on his very unworthy account.

"-but I noticed the moment they stepped in the room."

"Yeah, you're just the wiliest of bloodhounds."

Eric grinned wildly.

"I am at that."

I sighed then and sat down on my bed, folding my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. I tucked my head sideways on my knees and smiled sleepily at Eric.

"You are tired," he said, perching on the bed next to me and running his fingertips over the crest of my cheek.

"Finally," I sighed fuzzily. "With everything's that's happened tonight, I wasn't sure I'd be able to sleep at all."

"What time do you get off work tomorrow?"

"Oh, 'bout 11 or 12. I'm first in, so…"

"I would like you to come by Fangtasia afterwards, if you are feeling up to it."

"Sure," I agreed 'round a yawn. "More business?"

"Not business, exactly."

"More vamps you'd like me to not quite meet?"

"Not this time," he confessed with a shameless grin. "I just have a need to spend time at the bar, and I'd like you there for company."

I beamed sleepily at him over that wonderful note.

"More than alrighty then."

"Excellent. Your Jeep-"

"-My beast," I interrupted groggily.

There was a long pause, then "Your beast?"

"Mmm hmm. That's what I'm calling it. The Beast."

"How very contrary you are," he said with amused affection.

"I'm not contrary," I denied on another yawn. "I just appreciate a good bit of irony, is all."

I barely noticed as he lifted me and settled me under the covers. But when I felt him start to shift away, I grabbed for his hand blindly.

"Eric?"

"Yes, my Sookie?"

"You're the very best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I am sorry about your pet," he said softly on petting my hair.

"She lived a happy life."

He was quiet for a long while.

"How could she not, belonging to you?"

* * *

The next morning, I woke to a note and a key.

_Dear one,_

_The corvette is outside. Enjoy going topless._

_E_

I was muttering curses over my giddiness as I showered. When I got downstairs, Alcide was sitting at the table munching on toast and sipping on coffee. His eyes widened a bit on taking in my vamp improved appearance, but he didn't say anything as I took a seat.

I sipped at the coffee Gran poured me even though I was miraculously lucid on six hours a sleep.

"What time you need to head in?"

"Three-thirty, or there abouts. Thanks Gran," I smiled at her before glancing back at Alcide. He was nodding companionably.

"I've got the truck outside."

I spread marmalade over my toast as I considered his offer over my own mischievous urges.

"Well, Eric wanted me to go topless today-"

Alcide spit coffee in a brown arch across the breakfast table.

"-So I think we'll take the corvette," I finished with perverse good cheer.

"Well that sure was nice of him," Gran said on turning around with her skillet.

"Sure enough was."

I sipped innocently at my coffee as Alcide moped at the tablecloth with a desperately awkward hand.

"Oh, Alcide, honey. Don't you worry about that," Gran said on shooing him to his breakfast. "These things happen."

Sam was out back unloading a truck shirtless when we pulled up in the corvette. His eyes widened on taking in my windblown happiness, but he smiled as I skipped up to him.

"Hiya Sam!" I cheered.

"Hey there, Sook. New ride?"

I shook my head in delighted denial.

"Nope. Eric's other ride."

I batted my lashes innocently at his dropped jaw, and Alcide started coughing maniacally.

"That's sure nice of him, cher," Sam managed weakly.

"Idn't it though? My Beast will be here tonight, though. Eric's having someone pick it up for me."

"Your… beast," Sam repeated on a doubter's drawl.

"Yup. My new Jeep. She's sunshine yellow with beastly tires. Hence she's called-"

"The beast. Right. Gotcha," he added with a thumbs up.

"Well, best get in now. Those tables sure don't wait themselves!"

I heard them whispering in conference with my vamp improved ears as I skipped off into the building.

"Well what the heck's gotten in to her?"

"It all started at the car dealership-"

"-The car dealership?!-"

"-Over some tires…"

Sam wasn't the only one trying to puzzle me out that evening. Arlene was looking at me strangely as I cheerfully trayed up my drink order for a trio of truckers passing on through to New Orleans.

"I heard about the trouble last night."

"Eric's taking care of it," I said simply. "So there's nothing to be scared of."

"Weren't for him you wouldn't have had the trouble to start with."

"If not for him I'd still be alone and lonely," I corrected on a quiet smile. "He's the best thing to ever happen to me."

"I can see that," she said slowly, running her eyes over my lighter hair, my brighter eyes, my darker lips. I could hear her brain working overtime trying to figure out why it was I looked so different.

Maybe her vamp paid for her to get the works.

"Love makes all the difference," I said gently, and she was startled enough to blush.

"I reckon it does at that," she admitted reluctantly. "You still coming over for Lisa's birthday tomorrow?"

"Couldn't keep me away without putting me in a coffin," I said jokingly. Arlene only stared.

"Sheesh, I'm only kidding, girl. I'll be there, of course."

But Arlene was too busy giving me 'The Mom' eye to make note of my confirmation.

"Sook, honey, that's not really funny considering."

"It's either joke about it or cry," I told her with a kooky smile.

Then we were both off and tending to tables.

"Hey there, girlie," Lafayette said as I was scooting past with an iced tea refill.

"Yeah?" I asked, smiling into his dark face. His eye shadow was particularly feisty today, a neon green that all but screamed, 'I love the 80's!'

"You think you can run back and grab me a box of strips, honey? I'm up to my eyelashes in orders here."

On saying so, he batted them with a flirtatious vengeance. I laughed and nodded my consent.

"Let me just drop this off."

"Sure thing, girlie. You work them hips like you work them tips!"

I was still laughing as I dropped off the tea.

While I was scrounging around for the strips, I heard the freezer door open, felt the icy air whoosh past out into the warmer bar. Then I heard Sam's voice.

"Sookie, Eric is at the bar."

"He is?" I asked in happy surprise, turning around to face him.

Sam nodded. He was wearing a peculiar expression strangely akin to constipation.

"He's asking for you."

"Alrighty then. Will you tell him I'll be right out?" I asked on hitching up the box of chicken fingers onto my hip.

Sam nodded again, then turned to go.

"And Sam?" I called after him on impulse.

He turned back and gave me a patient smile.

"Thanks."

The smile widened, but he didn't say anything else. Curious, I dropped my shields on following him out of the freezer, and found that he was feeling wistful and… ashamed? I wasn't sure what to make of that odd combination. I set the box down on the prep table in the kitchen, then made my way out to the bar to see what had Sam in such a conflicted state.

I experienced a surge of pure joy on seeing Eric standing at the bar top. He was facing away from me, and I felt a bit ridiculous being so stupidly happy over just the back of his head. But then he turned and smiled at me and I felt like someone had replaced my brains with rainbows.

"Hi!" I cheered, bouncing up on my tippy toes to kiss him soundly on the mouth.

"I didn't expect to see you 'til later."

"I wanted to surprise you," he said with a crooked smile. I could feel through the blood bond that he was just as pleased to see me as I was to see him.

"I can't ever have too many such surprises."

We beamed at each other for a moment, and then I heard a strange little mewling sound.

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

And Eric, with an oddly sheepish expression, opened his hands to reveal the source.

Cupped inside his giant palms was the tinniest, tiniest little sock footed kitten. I stared at her, glanced up at an expectantly eager Eric, then back again in astonishment. She blinked at me sleepily, then gave another darling little mewl.

And that was all it took to have me bursting into tears.

I saw Eric and Sam exchange a glance, and then Sam was reaching for the kitten so Eric could reach for me. The rest of the bar, bereft of Supe senses, were quickly becoming restless. All they knew was I was crying, and that the giant Viking vampire standing in front of me was somehow the cause.

"Calm down, y'all. They're happy tears," I heard Sam say as Eric was carrying me back to the office.

"My Sookie… I thought… Since you had all that extra catnip lying around…"

I cried all the harder into his chest.

"Sorry," I said after. I was feeling more than a little sheepish over my public display.

"There's no need to apologize, dear one."

Sam had brought the kitten in during the last ten minutes or so, and she was curled up on my lap, purring in pleasure.

"I thought since Tina was no more, and I am more or less responsible-"

"You're not responsible at all!" I interrupted, appalled.

"I was the catalyst, at the very least."

"You'll quit that nonsense right this very instant, Eric Northman. Hatred's the culprit, and as old as you are, that's something older still. You trying to take blame for it is akin to claiming credit for the rising sun. The nerve of you, after just last night lecturing me on being used to folk's ill opinions!"

"I will take the kitten home for you. You will stay inside until I return."

"I will?" I asked coyly.

"If you know what's good for you," he dead-panned.

"Alright, already. Sheesh to you too, buddy. Nobody gets my funny ha ha today."

"Were you trying to joke about your health with someone else reasonable, then?'

I would have swatted at him, but I was afraid of waking the kitten. I told him so, and he finally laughed.

"I will see you in an hour or so, my Sookie."

"I love you," I sighed on his gentle kiss.

"My heart," he murmured, and then he was gone in a sexy-scented flash.

I sighed once more for his heart's good measure, then went out to check on my abandoned tables.

An hour or so later, I came out to the sight of my veriest favorite Viking holding my least favorite vermin by the scruffs of the neck. Eric was positively glowing with vicious enthusiasm as he suspended them aloft. There was a silver chain curled by his left foot, spilled halfway out of Denise Mackray's oversized purse. I sighed with reluctant sensibility.

"Drop the Rats, Eric."

"Which Rat?" he inquired innocently. "This rat?"

He shook Mack viciously by the neck, until his limbs snapped and popped with the motion. Mack moaned like a dying man.

"Or this rat, perhaps?"

He shook Denise with equal force, but she wasn't nearly as docile. She hissed and cursed at him, her poufy red hair flying around her face like a burnt out halo.

"I'm gonna get you 'n your bitch both!" she screeched at us.

On hearing that, Eric tightened up his chokehold on her neck until she went shriller still.

"It's not enough for you thinking all sorts of nastiness my way all the time, you have to go and try and kill my boyfriend?" I hissed back at her.

Denise just let out of stream of profanity that would have made a sailor blush.

"Trailer trash talk aside… You're not welcome here no more."

I looked to Eric.

"Should we call the law on them?"

Denise settled down somewhat on that note, and it made me warm to the idea all the more. But Eric only shook his head.

"I would rather leave the sheriff to tend more pressing crimes. I will glamour them instead," Eric decided with great reluctance.

Eric's glamour was as subtle as it was powerful. The night stilled for it as it swelled into the air. Birds went quiet, crickets went silent, and the Rats went dumbfounded for it.

"You will not return to this place, nor harm another vampire but in justified self defense. Should you considering consuming vampire blood in the future, you will remember that it makes you very, very ill."

"It does?" Mack asked in dazed surprise.

"Life threatening ill," Eric insisted over another fat surge of power.

"Life threateningly ill," he agreed with sad confidence.

"That was sure weird," I said as I watched them drive off in their sun-faded red Ford convertible.

"It may not hold. Addiction is a powerful motivator."

"Yeah, I get that."

He was still looking a whole lot toothy over the Rat deal.

"Eric, what would you have me do? Just stand by an' let you go all homicidal on two of my customers?"

"Self defense," he pointed out pissily.

"Overkill," I insisted.

"So you say."

He was searching my face so intently that I raised my free hand up to my hair again, smoothing it back compulsively.

"What are you looking at?" I asked self consciously.

"I was checking your ears for my fangs," he said so seriously that it took a minute to sink in.

"Eric!" I wailed, swatting at him. "I can't believe that Pam actually said that! What was she thinking?"

"She has never known me to turn down the attentions of a beautiful woman, Sookie." He looked thoughtful. "And quite truthfully, I have never known me to turn down the attentions of a beautiful woman."

"So what changed?" I asked lightly, as if we weren't standing in Merlotte's parking lot making intense declarations. I had no intention of my letting my 'I love you' serve as a silver ball and chain on Eric, but I wasn't exactly above asking for elaborations, either.

"I think you know," he said, staring down into my eyes. My breath caught at the expression there, and I leaned up on my tip toes to kiss him, hand pressed against the tight muscles of his chest.

He groaned into my mouth and kissed me like he was eating me, furiously, as if he would never kiss a woman again, not if he lived for another thousand years. But this time, I noted with some surprise, there were no fangs. When he buried his face in my neck and groaned, I felt myself melt into the embrace.

"My Sookie," he whispered against my throat, pressing a kiss to my throbbing pulse before pulling back to look down into my eyes.

"You will be the end of me, woman," he muttered on shaking me slightly.

"This is the beginning," I insisted on a correction, and he gave a warm ghost of a smile.

"Wisdom for the wary," he murmured consideringly.

Hearing that pinched more than a little. I didn't say anything, but Eric caught my feelings anyhow.

"Not of you, dear one. Of the loss of you."

"Oh," I murmured shyly over my all-but-bursting insides. Then, 'cause I was suddenly in a sharing type mood, "Are you hungry?"

Eric gave a subtle little lip lick, eyelids dropping to hoods in the shadows of the parking lot.

I stepped up to him and pressed my pulse directly over his moistened lips. His big hand came up, long fingers wrapping possessively around my wrist. His other hand was planted palm-flat to the center of my back, pushing me closer until our hips bumped. I heard the snick of fangs, and then the sharp sweet pain of being pierced. I let out a gasp and gripped my own need into the fabric of his shirt. I could feel my heartbeat pumping into his mouth as he drank, feel the persuasion of his eyes locked lustily on mine, and when he pressed his leg between mine, I came shuddering for us both.  
"This parking lot has bore witness to more of my intimate acts in the last week than my own bedroom has in the past, um… let me think… ever."

I gave a laugh as he settled me against the driver's side of my Beast.

"Where's your corvette," I asked him breathlessly as his hands started sliding teasingly down my sides.

"Pam has the corvette, Hadley has your Gran, and you-" he smiled sinfully "-are about to have me."

"I am?" I inquired airlessly.

"You are indeed," he assured me silkily. "Have I ever told you how very fond I am of your little work shorts?"

"Nope."

"Even more so of what's under them."

His big hands slid up under the hem and kneaded demonstratively at my butt cheeks.

"The Beast could do with a nice christening," I managed diplomatically. "There's a lake nearby, over by my parent's place."

Eric drove us, and I discovered in short order just how wonderfully dexterous my deliciously tall Viking was. I was wearing one of the candy fripperies underneath, a stretch of pale blue lace that sat high on my hips and snapped easily under the fingers of my questing lover.

"Oops," he said with mock guilt.

"Screw it for me," I said with genuine joy.

Then, "You got enough leg room?"

"Room enough," he murmured on sliding inside me.

My entire body constricted for the motion, nipples hard to points, face flush to heat. His hips pistoned like needy jack hammers, his thumb rubbed my clit with precision point pressure. Over and over and over he slid into me, pushing me further and further up into his controlled frenzy of relentless pleasure. Shoving into me deeper and deeper, until I was impossibly blissed under his continual bombardment of ruthless sensation. I came screaming into the night air, Eric bucking into his own conclusion a few seconds later.

"Wow," I sighed after. "Just… wow."

Eric was staring into my face, sucking up every detail like he'd never sucked my blood.

"You are a miraculous creature," he said softly.

I folded myself down on him, curling my head into his cool shoulder, wrapping my arms round his strong back.

"Lordy, I already cried once today. You best knock it off or you're gonna turn me into a regular old sob machine."

"I have never been comfortable around tears," Eric confessed cautiously. I had to smile at his reluctant tone.

"Not even when you were human?"

"Certainly not then. I had three sisters that lived to adulthood, and the youngest… Anya… she wielded them as precisely as I ever did a sword."

"The mighty Eric Northman, roped up by a slip of a girl," I teased on a giggle. Looked like Alcide hadn't been so far off his mark, after all.

And what's more… It looked like my vampire lover had a couple of female-sized soft spots on his heart, even when claiming not to know how to feel with one.

"My lover, you may rope me anyway you would like aside from with silver." He paused consideringly. "Perhaps even then under some circumstances."

"You're saying you trust me then, I take it?"

"From nearly the moment we met."

I pushed off him and stared down into his moonlit face.

"How could you've been so sure?"

There was no teasing now. I was kneeling naked on his legs, bare breasts just an eye drop down, but he ignored them for my face. He was serious as grave dirt when he spoke.

"I see you."

"Oh Eric," I sighed softly on dropping my forehead down to his. "I love you."

When he kissed me in response, I could taste the words off his deep set heart.

* * *

**A/N: The kitten chapter... I just couldn't resist it... and really, she did have all that catnip laying around, right? And... it looks like tomorrow I post the last two chapters of the story, folks! So be sure to check in... Thanks for sticking with me this week! All of the great reviews, follows and favorites have really gotten my blood rolling for writing again... And I'm pretty sure at this point that I'm going to write a sequel to this story, as I had planned to do back when I finished it. Will let you know more tomorrow... **


	15. Chapter 15

**15- Happy Birthday Handouts**

* * *

"So I hear you put the throne in your basement," I said coyly as I was driving us to Fangtasia. I'd stopped by the house and changed into a pair of slimming jeans and a stretchy top that showed off my flat tan navel. Eric had spun me around a time or two by the waist on seeing my outfit, following it up with a whopper of a kiss. We'd barely managed to unhinge ourselves long enough to get us loaded into the Beast.

"I'll have you know my basement is quite posh."

"Maybe we should investigate this theory of yours later tonight, for certainty's sake."

"I think that is an excellent suggestion," he replied just as professionally, and I squeezed his hand tightly with my own.

The club was hopping when we arrived. The crowds parted like they were making way for Moses, and I caught more than a few snide thoughts at my presence at Eric's side. I just beamed all the harder; after all, I'd already won.

Service was on the double time. Eric and I weren't even all the way seated when Hadley came dashing up with a True Blood and gin and tonic.

"Hey there Had!" I said, squeezing her up in a big hug. She giggled and smooched me back.

"Pam's with Gran, I take it?"

"Oh yes! They're having a photo album night."

"Well seeing as Pam has hundreds…"

"Oh, Gran's just tickled pink as posies. And by the by, she's teaching the kitten not to climb the drapes last text I got."

I laughed and hugged Eric tightly into my side.

It wasn't long before a rather eager fangbanger took it upon herself to interject into our pleasantries.

"In the mood for a real dinner?" she said, tapping the side of Eric's True Blood.

"My companion and I are well matched, thank you," Eric said on giving her an arrogant glance down his proud brow. The woman wasn't quick to catch on.

"But she ain't wearing no marks."

Seems like this one was going to be a hard case. Well, that was just fine. I could dish right on back.

"There's lots to me that can't be seen, isn't that right honey?"

The woman snickered, and I could feel Eric's forearm tighten beneath my hand.

Okay, then. We were gonna play this rough.

Using all the muscles I'd built up over the years playing softball, I hooked my leg behind Eric's ankle and spun myself around to straddle his lap. My long blond hair fanned around us like a peek-a-boo privacy curtain. I put my throat parallel to his closed-mouthed fangs until I could feel them straining between our pressed together flesh. Fang wasn't all I was feeling; his gracious plenty was straining up between us too.

"Eric honey?"

"Yes my Sookie?"

"There's no cops in this bar."

"You're sure of that?"

"As sure of how good this is gonna feel."

And so Eric gave in. His fangs made a crisp popping sound piercing flesh, and I ground myself down on him as he rode out the wave of my blood. I knew the whole bar was staring at us now, but for the life of me, I just couldn't bring myself to care. Eric and I came at the same time, and I felt him knick his tongue and heal my little wounds clean, so it would look like we had just done a tease-n-show for the patrons. Only the vampires would know different, them and the only woman standing close enough to catch a true glimpse.

I French kissed him after, lingering on the shared bloodiness of our mouths until the woman turned away in disgust.

"Marked enough for you?" I murmured after in his ear.

Eric cleared his throat and spoke with much difficulty. "Yes, but I may need a change of clothes."

"Huh," I said on glancing down between us. "How 'bout that. But not for me."

"No?" he asked in surprise.

"Nope. I'll wear you proud. And I want to wear your marks later," I added softly. "Somewhere where no one will see them, but I'd like to wear them all the same."

"Girl I am a freak you shouldn't say those things," Eric lilted in a thick accent.

I giggled and cuffed him on the jaw.

"I'll be right back," he said, and made tracks for the office. I finished off my gin and tonic just in time to have Hadley serving me up another one.

"Woo-hoo girl, you got 'em riled up tonight, don't cha?"

"I have no idea what you could possibly mean," I said on batting not-so-innocent lashes her way. I knocked the tonic back quick as you please when I saw Eric coming back. It was all I could do not to drool as I watched him move lithely through the crowd, long legs striding, firm hips furling and unfurling. Oh, god, I had it bad. And wasn't that just okay?

"You got it bad," my cousin said aloud, and I grinned at her wildly. "Careful now, or I'll have reasons to start suspecting you of mind reading."

Eric reached us then and offered a hand. I took it and let him lead me easily to my feet.

"How about a dance?"

"How about one?"

Eric led me by the hand over to the DJ booth, where the vamp was doing his best to look demure and giddy all at once.

"Any preferences, dear one?"

"Fast than slow. Surprise me," I told the DJ.

The fast song was Adam Lambert's "If I had you," and I let it fly as Eric wound himself around me in surprising good show. I may not be able to carry a tune in a bucket, but by god can I dance. I let him have it all, riding my hips on his, riding his thigh to get even closer, until he was almost growling at me in frustration. When the song ended, he went to drag me out of the club, but I resisted.

"Just one more." He growled, and I slid into his arms with a gentle laugh. "Then this Sookie's all yours."

The next song was just as good, for different reasoning. VAST's "Part of You," piped over the speakers, somber enough for the dark laced crowd and sweet enough for the dark heart lovers. We swayed among the crowds, two tow-headed magickal lovers lost in each other and the night.

"Take me home," I whispered into his ear when it was over.

Eric drove while I stared at his profile, wondering how it was possible such a divine looking creature had chosen to share himself with me, crazy Sookie Stackhouse.

"What dark thoughts are taking you from me, my heart?" he asked once were down in his basement. I suppose it was posh enough. I was more concerned with my Viking's eyes view.

"I just can't believe my good luck," I whispered. "That you're mine."

His eyes went cobalt blue, and suddenly I was flying through the air to land, quite haphazardly I might add, on the edge of his throne.

Eric was still standing a good space away, staring at me darkly. His mood had followed mine, taking a sudden plunge into a different sort of darkness, and I was more than willing to follow down with him.

"Off with the jeans or leave with them in pieces."

I scrambled to my feet and made mad timing doing as he'd commanded. My panties didn't make the cutoff time though; I saw shredded pieces of them flying past my head and then I wasn't thinking because Eric was inside me and around and shoving me back onto his throne for everything he it was worth. My one arm was wrapped back around the throne, both legs wrapped high up on his hips, and the whole of me filled with his more than gracious plenty.

"There's no one but you," he whispered to me desperately on the pounding. "No moon, no sky to hold it. Only you that makes the nights tolerable for eternity."

"It sounds like you're telling me you love me," I managed over his thrust.

"If this is love, if this is love, may the gods keep me from Valhalla for only your lifetime longer."

I was crying now, crying tears for us both and not all of them were gentle tears. I knew Eric prized his immortality, possibly above all else, but such a vow, such a statement.

"I'll stay with you," I swore over my sobs. "I'll stay with you always and forever, even if it means the sun can't kiss my face without fire for the effort."

And then there could be no more words between us.

* * *

The next day I had Alcide escort me to Wal-Mart to pick up Lisa's birthday presents. I'd gotten her a make-up kit and an outfit, shoes to shirt. It was one of those pretty new pseudo-designer bits that Wal-Mart had been stocking as of late (and of which I had an outfit or two of my very own). I'd had the whole lot of it on lay-a-way, but telepathy's first paycheck had come through that morning, and I was easily able to pay off the whole lot. I even went to the electronics department and picked up a DVD player I knew Arlene had been trying to buy the kids for awhile now.

"Coby and Lisa will have to share this," I told Alcide. I added on a fifty dollar gift card as well for them to pick up some new movies to watch on it.

"This your first payday, ain't it?"

"Sure enough is," I told him amiably.

"Why ain't you buying yourself some silly frippery to celebrate then?"

"I've got all I could ever want or need, Alcide," I told him gently. "Now how 'bout you and I get a bit of lunch, hmm?"

We ate at TGIFs, and I had a blast watching Alcide mess himself in Jack Daniel's sauce. The noises he made grubbing on the ribs was near on animalistic, and I had a heck of time holding back on my corresponding giggles. The waitress was wide-eyed on bringing him his second plate. When time came for the check I had to arm wrestle him with vamp juiced strength in order to wrest the bill from him.

"My treat," I said on dropping money down. He was looking at me strangely as I handed the waitress the check.

_Sure is stronger than she looks._

"It's these new vitamins I'm taking," I told him with a soft smile.

_More like all the new vamp she's taking._

"Alcide!" I scolded soundly, and had the great pleasure of watching him flush.

"It's hard, you know? You seem so…"

"Ordinary?"

"I was gonna go with harmless."

"Thanks," I grinned at him over the compliment.

We ended up spending much of the drive to Lisa's party not-quite-really talking about Tara. Reading between the lines, it seemed Alcide was getting more than a little hot to trot over my best friend, although his ex seemed to be in the picture more than a bit too. "She won't tolerate any funny business," I told him straight out, to which he told me the funny would be one-sided from the ex if it were at all.

Arlene had the door open and a smile on her face before I'd even made it halfway up the steps with my freshly wrapped presents.

"I can't stay long," I said on kissing her cheek. "You know how Sam gets on Saturdays."

"You'll at least come in for a slice of cake, Aunt Sookie?" asked Lisa on seeing I had arrived. Her eyes were big for all the packages I carried.

"Of course I will," I told her with a blinding smile.

"Who's this?" Arlene asked on seeing Alcide step up behind me with the rest of the gifts.

"Oh, this is just my friend Alcide," I told her pleasantly. Alcide was doing his best to look harmless in his big red flannel shirt and well-worn blue jeans, but he was the size of a small horse at least.

"He'll wait in the truck, if it's a problem."

"No, no, it's fine."

"Hey Rene," I cheered on a little wave.

"Hey there, you. Good to see ya cher, and a load of presents, aside. Lisa gonna love you, girl."

"Oh, well, it's no big deal. Not every day a girl turns 11, is it?" I asked on wrapping her up in a happy hug.

"Nope," she agreed with a cheeky grin. Her pretty red hair was done up in fat sausage curls, and there was green glitter rimming her hazel eyes. Her nail polish was candy purple, and her dress was black with pink stripes showing through on deliberate fabric slices. She looked like a punk rock fairy princess, and I told her so.

"Aunt Sookie," she giggled on batting her fake eyelashes.

"Now, one of these is for you and Coby. You'll know it when you see it, alright?"

"Sure thing, Aunt Sookie." I smiled at her and ran a loving hand over her curls.

Arlene came to stand next to me and we watched as Lisa tore eagerly into her presents.

"Looks more and more like you every day."

Arlene sighed in bittersweet acknowledgement.

"'Bout time for you to have a couple here real soon, Sook."

"I don't really think it's in the cards for me," I told her with a soft smile.

"Ought to get rid of your vamp and get yourself a real man, Sook."

"Even if it weren't for the fact that I'm blissfully in love with Eric, you know why that's not possible."

"I'll admit the kitten was a sweet gesture."

"And that's just what you've seen firsthand. If you knew, if you knew what he was really like… All he's done for me. Lord knows, Arlene, I don't know a 'real man,' as you say, that could tend to my heart any better."

Thankfully for my growing impatience, the kids chose to interrupt us over the shared gift.

"Oh thank you, Aunt Sookie!" Coby cheered on seeing the DVD player, throwing himself up into my arms. I lifted him up and spun him around with a laugh, then took a turn hugging Lisa as well.

When I straightened up, I noticed my dress had slid down near to my bra on setting down Coby, and that Rene was staring at my exposed chest with a darkly considering expression. I glanced down and caught sight of Eric's second helping love marks from the previous night, and tugged my neck line back into appropriate place.

"Don't that hurt?" he asked in nasty distaste.

"No, not at all. It was made in the care of someone I love," I added, and his mouth curled in a half-lipped sneer before dropping back to more sociable lines.

"Not for me to say, I guess. Just watch yourself, cher."

Myself around you, I thought as I reviewed his cruel face in my mind. I'd had no idea Rene was so anti-vampire. But then, so was half of Bon Temps, even after the kitten at Merlotte's. Besides that, it was Lisa's birthday, so I was determined to be civil.

"I hear you, Rene," was all I could make myself say.

By the time we got in the truck, I was fuming.

"What's eating you, cher?"

"Prejudice bastards with Cajun accents," I muttered pissily.

"That'd be the Rene fellow?"

"Yes."

"He smells off, you know."

"What do you mean by 'off'?" I asked carefully, to which Alcide shrugged.

"Can't say directly. Just off. It's a were thing," he said.

"Hmm…" I replied, thinking furiously. What all did I know about Rene? Not much, only that he had a sister off in Shreveport. She worked in a café, I thought.

Maybe I was being paranoid, but wasn't safer better than sorry? I wasn't going to say anything just yet, not without doing a little investigating, but my suspicions were good and raised both by my observations, and Alcide's.

"Alcide," I said a little hesitantly. "Can you have your werewolf buddy look into Rene for me?"

Alcide looked none too sure about that.

"Not Eric?"

"Eric's liable to jump the fangs, and I'd rather not start anything unnecessarily."

"Makes sense," he said after some careful consideration. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

The next two weeks went by with suspiciously happy speed. I was at Eric's house near on every other night, and Eric, Hadley and Pam were at Gran's much the same. Jason had found out about Hadley's miraculous reappearance, and aside from a groan or two about not being let in from the get go, he took to the news surprisingly well.

By week two, it was starting to grate on me that no one had found out anything more about our 'donor killer,' as the more polite of us were calling him. 'Fang-banger corpse fucker,' was Pam's sneering take on it, since we'd found out he'd raped the girls post-mortem. I'd about lost my brain on hearing that piece of news. I was feeling hunted despite everyone's best efforts, and more than a little caged.

And when I finally got Tina back in a shoe-type box sealed in police tape, my control just up and cracked.

"I can feel your eyes," I snapped savagely at my werewolf bodyguard. "And your wagging eyebrows."

Trey Dawson was a hoss of a man, so I couldn't even imagine what he looked like as a wolf.

"Well now, Sookie. And here I thought you could only read minds. Got some eyeballs in the back of your head, do you?"

I spun around on him with a vengeance, only to find him locked on to me with compassionate consideration. My temper deflated and dropped straight down into the hole I'd dug for Tina.

"Sorry," I murmured softly. "I guess I'm just missing her."

"And your independence, I'm sure."

"And my independence," I confessed sorrowfully.

"Northman only wants to see you hale and hearty. The alternative is a might bit less lively, if you catch my meaning," he said, this time actually wagging his brows at the hole at my feet.

"Oh, I know," I sighed. "But I ain't gotta like it."

"Truth be told, me and Herveaux have been impressed by how well you've held up on all this."

"Well, Eric's mighty good at distracting me."

"Yeah, and we've been shocked as shit to see that as well. Well, at least we were."

"Were?"

Trey gave a rueful smile.

"The way he looks at you…"

I smiled softly.

"He sees me, is all."

"Loves you, more like."

"Not much difference where I'm standing."

"You sure are a strange female."

"I know," I cheered with ridiculous cheer.

And then, "Eric's coming."

The joy on my insides was growing with near on every second.

"You can tell?" Trey asked with a bit of surprise.

"Oh yes," I nodded, hand pressed over my heart.

Eric dropped out of the sky and landed a foot or so away from me, smiling as hugely as I was.

"Hello, lover," he murmured on scooping me up. He swung me up and around the yard in a flying half spin, while I laughed and laughed like a sugared up loon.

"Oh, I missed you!" I said, giving him a resounding smack on the lips.

"I was only gone 12 hours."

"It seems longer," I confessed with a silly smile.

"I would have been here sooner, but I had to set some things in motion. There is business at the club tonight."

"Alrighty," I agreed easily. "What sort?"

"I am interviewing a new day man."

"How come?" I asked, picking at the fingernail on my left thumb anxiously.

"Bobby took it upon himself to stress his dislike of you within Pamela's range of hearing."

"Oh," I said. Then, "Oh, Eric, you shouldn't."

His eyebrow raised questioningly.

"I shouldn't?"

"Of course not! People are allowed to dislike me, Eric."

"Not if they intend to stay working for me," he said haughtily.

"Honey, I love you… But you have to understand. Word's gonna get around that I'm like… I don't know… the boss' over-coddled arm candy or something. You don't want that, do you?"

"No more than I want employees running their mouths about my contracted consultants. So what to do?"

"How 'bout a nice good scolding and a temporary pay cut?"

"I'd like to cut something else even more," Eric muttered darkly.

"What's that?" I intoned sweetly.

"I said, what an excellent idea, dear one."

"And I was meaning to tell you…" Trey interjected. "I've had some luck on the Rene front."

Eric's eyes grew dark as midnight at that, his face tightening with frightful intensity. I grabbed for his hand and tugged him tight to my side.

"Now don't be getting upset. This is just a little something I had Trey looking into for us."

"By all means," he said with great sarcasm. "Let's hear what Trey has to say."

Trey glanced between the two of us for a moment, then went on ahead with his report.

"I was asking around about him the last few nights, but he appears to be on the up and up. Steady job, steady relationship. Not much pointing to serial killer status, but-"

Eric's hand went painfully tight on mine.

"-He did have a sister who ran with the fangbanger crowd for awhile but vanished. Drugs or drained they suspect." Trey shrugged.

"Vanished, you say?" Eric was growing scarier by the moment.

"Eric, honey," I warned desperately. "We can't just go on and kill him yet. Not until we're sure."

"But you are saying yet?"

"If he tries for me or anyone else I care about, you can bet your ass that's a yes."

Eric turned on me in a deadly storm. Trey was slowly inching away from the as-yet-unfilled hole.

"I cannot believe you kept something like this from me."

"You would if you could see your face right now."

He scowled viciously at that.

"Did it ever occur to you that I could simply glamour him to find out what he knows?"

"Well, hmm, no actually it did not."

I did my best impression of a meek and well-meaning Sookie, and Eric sighed out all of his angst and leaned his head down to mine. He kissed me softly, so I knew all was forgiven.

"Dear one, you will be the death of me, I swear."

"Hey! That should be the human's line!"

"Hassle's more like it."

Trey was grinning at this bit of by-play.

"Y'all realize you sound like a married couple."

"We're looking into it," Eric said vaguely.

Whoa, grab a hold of your cowboys and say, "WHAT?!"

Eric batted innocent blue eyes at me.

"I've been meaning to mention it."

I glared at him.

"I hate to inform you, my veriest favorite Viking, but it's not even legal yet."

"It is for vampires to humans."

He seemed bound and determined to settle the matter later, so I sighed out my own bit of frustration and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

"If there's hassle to be had here, it sure does go both ways."

"It's why we're so very well matched Miss Stackhouse." He pressed his lips to mine again and drew away the rest of my frustration.

Trey was in the background humming the wedding march. I gave him a rightly sized glare before returning to more pressing matters.

"But what of Rene?"

"That will be dealt with tonight along with the rest."

"Honey, Arlene's working tonight and he's all alone with the kids."

"All the better than, is it not?"

I didn't know what to say to that, so I turned back to the grisly matter of burying Tina so we could move on with this dark business.

* * *

**A/N: So only one more chapter to go... And it'll be up within the hour. And I have decided to write a sequel to this story, called _Can't Stop the World_, based on the second book, _Living Dead in Dallas_. I'm already a chunk of the way into chapter one, so that should be up soon! Thanks to everyone who has followed and reviewed this story! You've made my week with all your wonderful comments, and are a major reason why I've decided to go ahead with my sequel... Much love! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**16- Freedom ain't a word I'm done with yet**

* * *

We arrived at Rene and Arlene's house to find a not-so-surprise faced Arlene answer the door. She gave a hateful round-about glance to my little investigative party before swinging the door half open to lean out. I could see the kids cowering in the background looking all shades of sad.

"Honey, I thought you'd be at work," I said, feeling a tad bit guilty if not a whole lot unjustified. I was in the serious business of looking for a killer. "We just came to speak with Rene."

"Well, I had to call out, and he ain't here. Your bodyguard came sniffing round asking questions and the like and he took off. Packed every bit a clothes in his drawers and cleaned out the medicine cabinet too."

The slap came out of nowhere, cracking across my cheek like a razorblade drawl. I was so stunned by the vehemence of the gesture that I tripped backwards and would have landed on my butt if not for Eric's considering hands. I quickly grabbed him by the wrists so he wouldn't do anything foolish.

"Eric, the kids," I told him desperately. He growled but stayed to set me steady. Trey stayed in the background as silently disapproving muscle.

"Weren't it enough, you having the new job, and the new man, and the whole lot of it. Now you had to go scaring off my man sending bikers after him and vampires and who knows what else. He was good to the kids, and good to me and you just up and ruined it."

"What about Dawn, Arlene?" I asked calm as you please as I cradled my throbbing face. "And Maudette. And even his own sister? Was he good to them too?"

"You just shut your fucking mouth! Rene's been a good part of this community a long time! He didn't kill those women!"

But she looked desperate as she said this, like she was trying real hard to make herself believe. And for that, there was nothing I could do to help her.

"Come on Eric," I said softly. "We'll get nothing else here."

"God damn you, Sookie Stackhouse! Taking up with them devils as you are."

For this I did have something to say. I gently asked Eric to release me and stepped up close enough to make her flinch. I knew my eyes were crazy looking, the look I get when I'm hearing too much and can't make it stop, and this time I didn't want them to.

"Let me tell you something, Arlene Fowler. I ain't never done nothing but good by you and yours. Babysitting when I could, cleaning your trailer when you asked, covering your shifts and your tables. You call Eric the devil, my cousin and her girlfriend with him? They ain't never struck out at me for my kindnesses the way you just did tonight. You're looking for someone to blame that another one ran out on you, but I ain't got that kinda violent fear in me. I know my vampire, my man, will stand by me, and protect me and hold me when the whole world slaps at me the way you've just done. You'll never have that, and for that I am truly sorry for you."

"Coby, Lisa, I love you," I called to them over their tears. "You go on and hold your momma now."

They came out and wrapped themselves around her, comforting her, when for all the world it should have been the other way around.

"Come on Eric," I repeated softly. "We can go now."

We drove to the sheriff's office next to present him with our suspicions. He seemed mighty interested to know that Rene had skipped town on account of our questioning.

"Wish I coulda got a hold of one or two of his belts," was all he had to say. But he shook Eric's hand with no more than a little fuss. It was all very gentlemanly.

"Thanks for taking the time, sheriff," he said with a light flavoring of gratitude.

"You're welcome sheriff, but it was Sookie here that first took suspicion."

Bud Dearborn wisely didn't say anything to that.

We were getting in the car to head to the house so I could change for the business at the club when Eric let me in on a little change in plans. Trey had already left on his Harley.

"There is some trouble at the club," he said, flashing fingers over his keys on his BlackBerry. "I went ahead and told Pam and Hadley to head on in as we would be arriving at your home so shortly."

We made it home with good timing, but the second Eric turned off the engine, I saw him stiffen and knew something was wrong.

The shotgun blast came from the driver's side, and since Eric was driving, it took him in the side of the neck, and I could tell from the searing smell that it was a silver cartridge. I gave a roar and dove out the side of the Beast. When Rene came for me with the gun, I fought back with every bit of vamp induced strength in me, kicking and punching with my feet with all my might. I could hear Rene's dark thoughts, roiling with all the blackness he intended to do to me. I was to be the prize trophy to his collection, the vampire king's whore.

But Rene didn't want to shoot me. No, he had far darker plans than that.

_Gonna fuck your fang banger corpse right here in beside your fanger fuck._

I let out a scream that came out sounding more like a gurgle for Rene's belt chocking round my throat. I kicked and beat at his arms, but the world was slowly going gray and it was all I could do to hold on to consciousness.

Then I heard a sound, the most beautiful sound I'd ever had the pleasure of hearing. One that near blew my eardrums for its nearness, but gave me air back for its effects. I kicked once more, and sent Rene's corpse flying off me. Rene's skull was a mass of gray matter and white bits of smoldering bone. My clothes were soaked to the skin with the remnants, and I glanced up shell shocked with still ringing ears to see who had saved the day.

There, standing on my porch wearing her best violet flannel nightie, was my not-so-feeble Gran holding a smoking shotgun. Her face was a picture of fierceness as she spoke.

"Ain't nobody killing nobody in my yard 'cept for me."

I ran to Eric's side then, shoving my wrist down to his mouth so he could feed. When he couldn't even drop fang, I took it upon myself to sink teeth into my own flesh. It hurt worse than just about anything I'd ever felt, but I barely felt the pain for staring down at his blown open throat. Gran came up behind me, and I heard her gasp on seeing the damage.

"Eric, honey, drink."

He was making little mewling noises as I forced the blood down his throat, using my fingers to coax the flow down easier. And after what seemed like forever, his throat began to heal.

"Oh thank god for that," I whispered gratefully. I felt his fangs drop, but he was careful to not even let them graze the already torn flesh of my wrist.

"I suppose I ought to see to calling the other sheriff then," Gran said reluctantly once she realized Eric was on the mend.

"The other sheriff, then showers all around," Eric managed, to which we all laughed in relief.

And if there were a few tears shed with the laughter, not one soul present would ever be telling.

* * *

The after party at Fangtasia was one for the books, I'll tell you. Eric took the throne out of his basement for the occasion, and Gran sat dolled up as pretty as you please with flowers round her feet and Eric's crown on her head. Pam stood proudly at her side, Hadley sat curled up at her feet playing with the ends of her dress.

"If there was ever a queen," Eric told the Gothed out crowd. "This is she."

Bobby the not-so-boob pulled me aside to apologize, and (miracles never cease to amaze) thank me for getting him his job back.

"I was too quick to judge," he admitted reluctantly. "And you make the Master happy."

Yucks to the Master bit, kudos to the compliment.

"You do good work, Bobby," I told him on giving him a hand squeeze. "Plus I'll always be grateful to the man who delivered me my skillet."

I left him looking befuddled and went to find Eric, who was stood proudly at my Gran's side surrounded by suitors vampire and human alike.

"And then she shot him, quick and clean as you please," Hadley was recounting.

"Bastard got what was coming to him," Gran said in a commanding sort of tone.

"Gran!" I gasped. She preened and pouted then settled into her normal regal self.

"Well, questionable parentage or not, that's what he was."

I nodded my agreement as Eric pulled me into his side. His eyes were glowing with happy light. He was as relaxed as I'd ever seen him outside the bedroom.

"Care for a dance, dear one?"

In honor of my Gran, they were playing oldies over the speakers. I could only nod over my own happiness and let him lead me out.

"You're glowing tonight, my love," he said as he led me in a gentle waltz.

"It's because I am your love. And because I don't have to worry about getting killed no more," I added on a laugh.

Eric's hands tightened on my waist.

"The thought of losing you…"

He looked devastated at even the possibility.

"But you won't," I assured him gently.

"Then you meant what you said, about…?"

"Turning me? Yes. But not just yet. And you, did you mean what you said…?"

"About marrying you? The sooner the better, my heart."

"Why the sooner the better?" I asked suspiciously.

"All in good time," he murmured in my ear. "What is best, what is right, is in my arms right now."

"Forever always," I vowed adamantly.

"Forever always," he vowed passionately in return.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's it folks... I am working on a sequel to this story, called _Can't Stop the World_, based on CH's second book, _Living Dead in Dallas_. I will be posting the first chapter at the end of this story once it's finished, so anyone who's following should be alerted. Thank, thank you to everyone who's read, followed, and reviewed! You all have more than made this experience enjoyable, and you're a big part of the reason why I'm writing a sequel. Thanks again for letting me live in a world where Bill (and book 13!) don't exist... **


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